KOCHI: The bottlenecks in opening more Assistant Drugs Control (ADC) offices across the state, which could have made the system more transparent and effective, have raised many an eyebrow. Highly placed sources pointed out that there was a nexus between the officials and pharmaceutical companies behind the impediments in opening drugs control offices in all the districts in the state. Though the office of the Drugs Controller had sent a recommendation to the government for establishing ADC offices in eight districts, where there are no such offices, the government rejected the proposal stating feasibility issues. This is despite the fact that the opening of additional offices would not have caused any additional financial burden on the government. Drugs Controller of Kerala C S Satheesh Kumar said: “Though the government had rejected the proposal, we have decided to approach it once again. We will again give a representation to the government in this regard. Though the existing drug control system is effective, it can be made more systematic if assistant drugs control offices are set up in all districts,” he said. Meanwhile, the officials fear that no new project would be materialised as long as the officials at the top remain the same. An official with the Health Department said on condition of anonymity that the present system is more time-consuming. “At present ADCs have more than a district under their control, hence more time is consumed for taking any action. As a result, the pharmaceutical companies are able to sell their low-grade drugs before it is declared as substandard,” he said and added that the companies only want to get the whole process delayed. “The pharmaceutical companies would withdraw the substandard drug only after it is declared unfit for use. Most often the companies get a lot of time and even a whole batch of medicine gets sold,” he said. “If a drug inspector in Idukki identifies a sub-standard drug, he would intimate this to the Ernakulam ADC, who will then report to the State Drugs Controller. It would be declared as sub-standard only in 15 days or a month as all the communication process is slow,” he said. Now, there are only six ADS offices in the state at T”Puram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur. Since an ADC has more than one district under its control, most of the time it could be difficult to maintain transparency and efficiency.
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