A surprise inspection of retail medical stores was carried out by the empowered staff under the supervision of respective Assistant Drugs Controller in Jammu Province under the overall the authority of State Drugs Controller, Lotika Khajuria.
The drive was targeted to ensure the availability of quality drugs to the end users.
During the drive, Operations of Twenty Two Retail Sale Establishments were disallowed u/s 22 (d) of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 on spot which included nine in Jammu , three in Kishtwar, two in Poonch, two in Udhampur , two in Reasi and one each in Doda, Samba, Kathua and Rajouri.
The suspension was imposed on violations ranging from non maintenance of Sales records, Impersonation, Unhygienic/Unsanitary Conditions, Improper storage conditions etc.
The Licenses were warned of stringent action in case the deficiencies/shortfalls are not rectified within stipulated period of time, in the larger public interest.
Moreover, the Licenses of eleven wholesale establishments were cancelled by the Licensing Authority for violations of the conditions of Licenses , in a recent drive.
Statutory Drug samples of more than hundred drug formulations viz Antibiotics, PPI, Steroids; NSAIDs etc were also lifted from the market for determination of their strength and purity. These samples were referred to Drug Testing Laboratories located within and outside the state for framing legal opinion to ascertain their quality parameters.
State Drugs Controller has impressed upon the Chemist Fraternity to strictly adhere to the social distancing norms and other preventives measures to contain the transmission chain of Covid-19 during the dispensing of medicines.