Vadodara: The Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) cancelled drug licences of a city-based pharmaceutical firm after an investigation found that it allegedly used bogus purchase bills and manipulated sales invoices to facilitate the illegal sale of 9,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup.Action was taken against SD Pharma, operating from South-West Central Mall on Sun Pharma Road. The firm, owned by Hardik Shah, held licences GJ-VAD-257152 (Form 20B) and GJ-VAD-257153 (Form 21B), according to the FDCA.During an investigation under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, officials found that the firm had shown the purchase of 9,000 bottles of Wiscof Syrup, a codeine-based formulation, from Maharaj Ji Enterprise of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.The FDCA said the purchase bill did not carry mandatory details such as the licence number, batch number or expiry date and the purported supplier could not be contacted, leading officials to conclude that the bill was fabricated.The investigation also found that 1,440 bottles were shown as sold to AJ Enterprise on Harni Road here, which the FDCA found was a closed firm. Another 7,560 bottles were shown as sold to Pranshi Enterprise in Ahmedabad, with officials alleging that the sales bill had been tampered with.The FDCA issued a show-cause notice to the licence holder on July 15. His reply submitted on July 17 was found to be unsatisfactory, after which the authority cancelled both licences with immediate effect through an order dated July 23 stating that the firm was unfit to continue operating in the public interest.The investigation was conducted by drug inspector H M Jepal under the supervision of Dr A H Zala, assistant commissioner, FDCA, Vadodara.
