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Karnataka Fake Drug Racket: 16 Pharmacy Licenses Canceled, Pfizer C&F Depot Suspended
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News18•20-09-2026, 20:03
Karnataka Fake Drug Racket: 16 Pharmacy Licenses Canceled, Pfizer C&F Depot Suspended
- •Karnataka FDA canceled 16 pharmacy licenses and suspended 8, including a Pfizer C&F Depot, in connection with a spurious drug racket.
- •The action follows an August 18 raid on a Bidadi farmhouse, seizing fake drugs, packaging, and machinery worth Rs 5.05 crore.
- •Investigation revealed low-cost medicines were relabeled as expensive, life-saving drugs, including counterfeit Pfizer products with non-functional QR codes.
- •Criminal proceedings initiated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, with a Special Investigation Team probing the wider supply chain.
- •Health Minister U T Khader stated the government is tracking the racket's links to other states and assured medicines in government hospitals are safe.
Key Questions Answered
The Karnataka Food Safety and Drugs Administration cancelled the licences of 16 pharmacies and suspended eight others following the discovery of a spurious drug distribution network linked to a Bidadi farmhouse raid.
Officials seized spurious drugs, packaging materials, injection-filling machinery, forged labels, and stamps with an estimated total value of Rs 5.05 crore.
Preliminary investigations revealed that low-cost medicines procured from other states were refilled into new vials and relabelled as expensive life-saving drugs carrying forged multinational brand labels.
