The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration
and Control has conducted a raid on shops in Aba, Abia
State, and seized cartons of expired amino acid drugs
whose expiry dates had been re-validated by the
dealers.
A statement by NAFDAC’s spokesperson, Mr. Anslem
Okonkwor, said the raid was coordinated by the Abia
State office of the agency as part of a nationwide
enforcement operation to rid markets of fake and
counterfeit regulated products.
Chief Regulatory Officer of the agency in the state, Mr.
Olisa Okeke, who led the operation, said the red
coloured drug named “Amino-fit”, containing 10 tablets
in each sachet and with batch number B00313D, was
manufactured in April 2013 with March 2016 as its expiry
date.
He noted that the dealers decided to clean the original
expiry date and write a new date on the pack after the
drug had expired so that they could continue selling it.
He said, “Some days ago,we got a tip-off that some
persons were re-writing (re validating) expiry dates on
amino-acid drug “Amino Fit” and we went to investigate
it at 21, Abagana Street, Aba.
“Our aim was to find and mop up the re-validated
drugs. When we got there,we met a lady who operates a
hair salon in the building.
“While speaking to the lady, a young man suspiciously
answered the question posed to the lady from an
opening behind a locked gate.”
Okeke said that the team then forced the door of the
shop open and found the re-validated products inside
stacked in a corner.
According to him, the suspects escaped through the
fence into another compound behind the building.
He, however, said that 14 cartons of the re-validated
expired pharmaceutical products were confiscated while
a search for the culprits involved in the business
continued.
He revealed that the premises had been sealed pending
the time the culprits or the owner of the property would
come to give account of what happened in the building,
adding that the screen-printing equipment that the
suspects were using to re-validate the products were
also recovered during the operation.
The NAFDAC boss in the state therefore advised the
public to take careful look at drugs before purchase to
avoid buying potentially dangerous expired products.
“Buyers of food and drug products around us now have
to be extra-careful because unless you are very careful,
and look very carefully, you will not see that they
changed the expiry date,” he said.
and Control has conducted a raid on shops in Aba, Abia
State, and seized cartons of expired amino acid drugs
whose expiry dates had been re-validated by the
dealers.
A statement by NAFDAC’s spokesperson, Mr. Anslem
Okonkwor, said the raid was coordinated by the Abia
State office of the agency as part of a nationwide
enforcement operation to rid markets of fake and
counterfeit regulated products.
Chief Regulatory Officer of the agency in the state, Mr.
Olisa Okeke, who led the operation, said the red
coloured drug named “Amino-fit”, containing 10 tablets
in each sachet and with batch number B00313D, was
manufactured in April 2013 with March 2016 as its expiry
date.
He noted that the dealers decided to clean the original
expiry date and write a new date on the pack after the
drug had expired so that they could continue selling it.
He said, “Some days ago,we got a tip-off that some
persons were re-writing (re validating) expiry dates on
amino-acid drug “Amino Fit” and we went to investigate
it at 21, Abagana Street, Aba.
“Our aim was to find and mop up the re-validated
drugs. When we got there,we met a lady who operates a
hair salon in the building.
“While speaking to the lady, a young man suspiciously
answered the question posed to the lady from an
opening behind a locked gate.”
Okeke said that the team then forced the door of the
shop open and found the re-validated products inside
stacked in a corner.
According to him, the suspects escaped through the
fence into another compound behind the building.
He, however, said that 14 cartons of the re-validated
expired pharmaceutical products were confiscated while
a search for the culprits involved in the business
continued.
He revealed that the premises had been sealed pending
the time the culprits or the owner of the property would
come to give account of what happened in the building,
adding that the screen-printing equipment that the
suspects were using to re-validate the products were
also recovered during the operation.
The NAFDAC boss in the state therefore advised the
public to take careful look at drugs before purchase to
avoid buying potentially dangerous expired products.
“Buyers of food and drug products around us now have
to be extra-careful because unless you are very careful,
and look very carefully, you will not see that they
changed the expiry date,” he said.
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