The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) announced plans to crack down on counterfeit drugs allegedly circulating in medical stores across Karachi. Following a major operation on December 12, 2023, DRAP raided an illicit pharmaceutical factory in the city, seizing a substantial quantity of counterfeit medications.
The central drug test laboratory confirmed the exported medicines as fake, inclusive of fraudulent packaging, registration details, and manufacturing dates. It was revealed that workers at the factory were repackaging counterfeit antibiotic drugs using packaging from various legitimate companies, raising concerns about their potential availability in the local market.
Details pertaining to these counterfeit medications have been forwarded to the relevant DRAP provincial office in Sindh. DRAP officials emphasized that counterfeit medicines are ineffective for treatment and can potentially escalate mortality rates.
Furthermore, DRAP urged medicine distributors to refrain from supplying fake antibiotic batches to the local market for patient consumption in the province. They also instructed relevant teams to seize counterfeit drugs from circulation in the market.
