The Telangana Drugs Control Administration on Thursday searched the premises of SL Health Care at Prashantinagar in Kukatpally and found that the firm was illegally manufacturing and selling two products — ‘ORTHO-D’ (Glucosamine 750 mg, Methyl Sulfonyl Methane 250mg and Diacerein 50 mg tablet ) and ‘Pregavit-M’ (Pregabalin 75 mg and Methylcobalamin 750 mcg capsules) — under an Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licence, falsely declaring them as food products/nutraceuticals, according to a press statement from the department.
The company sold ‘ORTHO-D’ and ‘Pregavit-M’ worth ₹2.90 lakh to Balaji Pharma and Unity Drugs, both in Narsaraopet, sale invoices seized by the DCA officials showed. Labels and printed aluminium foils for two products were also seized.
Director-General of DCA V.B. Kamalasan Reddy said the products ‘Glucosamine 750 mg, Methyl Sulfonyl Methane 250mg and Diacerein 50 mg tablet’ and ‘Pregabalin 75 mg and Methylcobalamin 750 mcg Capsules’ are drugs as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and should be manufactured only under a drug licence issued in accordance with the Act. The company has to adhere to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) prescribed under Schedule-M of Drugs Rules and should meet the quality standards prescribed in Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) mandatorily, he added.
Drugs that are illegally manufactured and sold under a food licence fail to meet the quality standards prescribed in IP and may have serious implications on patient health, the press statement added.
