Panaji: Goa police on Thursday registered an FIR against Aarav Pharma, Santa Cruz, for allegedly cheating the directorate of health services (DHS) by supplying spurious snake anti-venom. TOI was the first to report the case.
Deputy director of medicine at the DHS, Dr Saheen Saiyed, filed a complaint on behalf of the health department against the pharma company for supplying spurious lyophilised (freeze-dried) snake antivenom, thereby amounting to criminal breach of trust in govt procurement.
Police said the accused person dishonestly misrepresented to the DHS that the pharmaceutical product was manufactured by Vins Bioproducts Pvt Ltd, and knowingly used infringed copies of copyright labels and packaging of Vins Bioproducts Pvt Ltd without its consent for the purpose of commercial gain.
Police said the product was not manufactured by the said company and that the DHS was induced to place a purchase order amounting to Rs 4.9 lakh, and accept delivery of the spurious snake anti-venom.
Panaji police registered an FIR for cheating and under the Copyright Act, PI Vijaykumar Chodankar said.
TOI had reported that the central and state food drugs administration recently seized the entire stock of 1,080 vials of suspected spurious snake anti-venom, and sent samples for testing. Investigations are on to find out where the product was manufactured.
The drug was supplied to the health services by Aarav Pharma, its empanelled vendor. A senior health official said immediate action was taken after an original drug manufacturing company based in Telangana complained to the central FDA that a suspicious snake antivenom was supplied to the health services using their label.
“Snake antivenom is a very sensitive, life-saving drug that is manufactured through a complex and intricate process. It also must be stored and transported in refrigerated conditions and cannot be tampered with,” a doctor said.
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