Pharmacy Council investigates chemical store over fake malaria drug

Mr Ken Owusu, Volta Regional Manager of the Pharmacy Council on Saturday said the Council was investigating the license of Narrow Chemical Store at Kpando.

The investigations followed reports that the chemical store was allegedly selling counterfeit malaria drugs.

“Though the Food and Drugs Board is investigating the case, we are also doing in-depth analyses to authenticate the license of operation,” he told the GNA in an interview.

Mr Owusu said preliminary investigations indicated that the said Chemical Store was licensed in the name of one Johnson Hlovor.

He said the chemical store would be closed down should the Council find anything wrong with the license and the operators would be prosecuted.

Mr Owusu said the Council regularly held educational programmes for all licensed chemical and pharmacy shops in the region and wondered why some would be selling substandard drugs.

“We’ve constantly made them aware that they must get their products from licensed pharmacy wholesalers and not vans,” he said.

The Eastern and Volta Zonal Office of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in April this year bought Artesunate tablets from Narrow Chemical Store during one of their periodic inspections and after laboratory tests found out that the tablets had no active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The FDB consequently caused the arrest of one Williams Dagbui, the Assistant Shopkeeper.

Dagbui told journalists that they bought the drugs from a van on promotional sales.

Source: GNA