Antidote to drugs: On the counterfeit medicine racket in Bengaluru, Karnataka

With the recent bust of a counterfeit medicine racket in Bengaluru , a public policy issue with broad ramifications for health care in the State has emerged. Centered around Bengaluru, relabelled or fake drugs , including cancer drugs, injections used in the ICU, were supplied to more than 90 hospitals and clinics across the State. The lid was blown off this elaborate scam after incidental raids, near Bidadi in Karnataka on August 18, found suspected fake drugs and expired drugs at a farmhouse which was an unlicensed unit. The consignment had a label value of ₹5 crore. Investigators said that the farmhouse was used in an illicit drug operation — involving the repacking of fake and expired drugs as fresh consignments, with altered expiry dates, and as expensive, imported branded drugs — which were then sold at massive discounts.