Andhra Pradesh drug raids find Tramadol sale violations at 55 medical shops
Andhra Pradesh Drug Control Administration inspections found violations at 55 of 100 medical shops, after five arrests over illegal Tramadol sales in Eluru district.
Inspections carried out across Andhra Pradesh have uncovered violations at 55 of the 100 medical shops checked, in a crackdown on the unauthorised sale of the pain reliever Tramadol.
According to the Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department, 53 of the outlets were found to have committed minor violations. At two shops in Krishna and NTR districts, large quantities of medicines had been bought and sold without the required bills. Officials seized the purchase documents and submitted a report on the findings to Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav.
The inspections were ordered by the Minister and supervised by Drug Control Administration Director-General Arun Babu. They followed the discovery of a large number of empty and broken injection vials and used syringes at an oil-palm plantation in Vegavaram village, Jangareddygudem. The injections were identified as Tramadol products sold under the brand names Tramodex and Tramec.
After that incident, officials traced the distribution details of Tramadol manufacturers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The checks revealed that some medical shops in Eluru district had purchased large quantities of the injections.
In one case, Sri Lakshmi Srinivasa Medical Agency had bought 20,000 Tramadol injections through two bills this year. When the agency could not produce sale bills, officials raided several locations and seized 7,550 injections.
In another case, D. Roopa Peddinti Medical Agency was found to have purchased 5,200 Tramec injections over the past two years. The agency produced bills showing that 3,930 injections had been sold to a medical shop in Telangana, but officials there found the transaction to be fraudulent.
The investigation revealed that fake bills had been prepared and that the medicines were actually supplied to other medical shops without bills. Five people were arrested in connection with the case.
Arun Babu said the licences of those involved in illegal transactions would be cancelled. Strict legal action would also be taken against the illegal transportation and unauthorised storage of Tramadol and its sale without proper records.