India boosts sentences for fake drug offenders

People convicted of involvement in the counterfeit and substandard drugs trade in India will face life imprisonment and heavy fines under new amendments to the country’s Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad (pictured) has signed into law a new suite of penalties for medicines counterfeiting, designed to close a number of loopholes that until now have been exploited by those found guilty of the trade. He also said that special courts would be convened to ensure there is no delay in bringing offenders to justice.

The manufacture and sale of counterfeit medicines is now a ‘cognizable and non-bailable offence’, according to local new reports. Simply, that means that offenders are guilty of a criminal offence and can be arrested without a court warrant, and will be kept in custody during preparations for trial.

With counterfeiting threatening to undermine India’s reputation as a global producer of generic medicines, the government has clearly decided to tackle the problem head on. Last month Azad proposed a new ‘whistleblower’ scheme that will reward people who inform on illegal manufacturers and traders in medicines.

The Times of India notes that under the new amendments custodial sentences now start from a minimum of three years to life imprisonment, while fines for those found guilty of selling fake medicines range from 1 million rupees ($20,500) to three times the value of the medicines, whichever is the greater.

The penalty for manufacturing substandard drugs or making medicines without a valid license has increased to a minimum of three years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than 100,000 rupees.

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare estimates that around 5 per cent of medicines circulating in the country are counterfeit.

The amendments to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act were due to come into effect on August 14.