FDA orders 8 medical stores in South Goa to shut operations for two days

Panaji: Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has suspended operations of eight medical stores in South Goa for two days for various violations. Also, about six medical stores are under investigation for allegedly outsourcing operations to persons from outside the state, without prior approval of the FDA.

"We will not hesitate to cancel their licences if found guilty," FDA director Salim Veljee said. As regards to the violations by the eight stores, which were asked to shut down for two days, Veljee said six medicine stores are located in Curchorem, two in Margao and Sanguem.

FDA teams, during their inspections at these pharmacies, observed violations such as non-maintenance of proper drugs purchases and sales records, and selling drugs without prescription.

Veljee said all these stores had been warned in the past, and were asked to shut down operations for a day in 2014-15. "Yet, they showed no improvement which is why their penalty was doubled, this time," Veljee said.

The medical stores that have been outsourced to persons, mainly from Rajasthan, have been under the scanner of the FDA for a while. Most of these stores are located in South Goa. "One case is on the threshold of being decided. The licencee has entered into a lease licence agreement with a person outside Goa without approval of the FDA," Veljee said.

The worrying factor is that the FDA is ignorant of the background of the persons operating the leased stores. Veljee said, on completing the investigation, the licences of those operators will be cancelled, if need be.