Major violations detected at 66 pharmacies attached to corporate hospitals in Hyderabad

Show cause notices have been issued to all the 66 pharmacies located in or attached to various corporate hospitals in Hyderabad and districts of Telangana State

Hyderabad: Major violations by 66 pharmacies that are attached or located within the premises of corporate hospitals in Hyderabad and districts of Telangana State have come to light, following a special drive to detect irregularities, taken-up by Drug Control Administration (DCA), Telangana State.

Show cause notices have been issued to all the 66 pharmacies located in or attached to various corporate hospitals in Hyderabad and districts of Telangana State.

The irregularities that were detected include dispensing of prescription medicines in the absence of a registered pharmacist, non-maintenance and failure to produce sales bills of medicines; failure to maintain prescription drug registers and Schedule H1 drug registers; failure to produce purchase bills for medicines stocked in the pharmacies and sale of drugs without the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner.

The TSDCA also reported irregularities in the maintenance of copies of sales bills and purchase bills; failure to stock thermolabile drugs under the recommended storage conditions; and the stocking of expired drugs along with saleable drugs in the pharmacies.

During the raid at Remedy Hospital, KPHB, Kukatpally, the DCA froze (ordered not to dispose of) medical device (7 Biopro PRP Kits) stocks worth Rs 70,000. The manufacturer, as claimed on the label, Alchem Diagnostics, Coimbatore, failed to mention the manufacturing license number on the outer carton, labelled the outer carton with two different manufacturing dates while bearing the same batch number and expiry date, and labelled the outer carton with two different sterilization processes. Additionally, the hospital pharmacy failed to produce purchase and sale bills for the said kits.

At life Care Pharmacy, Ahmed Nagar Colony, Medak, the DCA officials found certain physician’s samples stocked along with saleable drugs.

A banned medicine, SUGATAB MV2 FORTE (Glimepiride, Metformin Hydrochloride Prolonged Release and Voglibose Tablets), was found stocked in the pharmacy attached to Gemcare Poulomi Hospitals, Dr. A S Rao Nagar, Kapra.