Hyderabad, June 11 (IANS) Telangana’s Drugs Control Administration (DCA) has raided a medical shop at a village in Karimnagar district, which was operating illegally without a drug license, an official statement said on Thursday.

Medicinal drugs worth Rs. 5.51 lakh, stocked for sale at the unlicensed premises, were seized during the raid, a DCA release said.

Officials of the DCA, acting on credible information regarding the illegal sale of medicines, raided the medical shop in Choppadandi village, Choppadandi Mandal in Karimnagar district, on Wednesday.

Mallarapu Akhil was running a medical shop at the said premises illegally, without a drug license.

During the raid, DCA officers detected the unauthorised stocking of a large quantity of medicines for sale. A total of 28 varieties of medicines, including in vitro diagnostic test kits, antibiotics, IV fluids, analgesics, and other drugs, were found stocked for sale at the premises and seized.

DCA officers collected the samples for analysis. Further investigation shall be carried out, and action shall be taken as per the law against all the offenders.

The DCA said that wholesalers/dealers who supply medicines to such unlicensed shops, which are stocking and selling drugs without a drug license, are also punishable under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, and stringent action shall be taken against such wholesalers/dealers. Wholesalers/dealers shall mandatorily ensure that the recipient entities hold a valid drug license before supplying medicines to them.

DCA issues drug licenses for the stocking and selling of medicines in accordance with the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Stocking drugs for sale without a drug license is punishable under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, with imprisonment for up to five years.

The DCA advised people to avoid purchasing medicines from unlicensed sources and never to buy medicines from unregulated websites or other online platforms. Purchasing medicines from such sources significantly increases the risk to public health, as they are unregulated. It is advisable to purchase medicines only from licensed medical shops, which typically display their drug licenses, issued by the Drugs Control Administration, Telangana, conspicuously in a prominent place that is easily visible to the public, it added.

–IANS

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