**Hyderabad:** The Drugs Control Administration (DCA) in Telangana has seized overpriced antifungal medicine and certain other medicines due to misleading advertisements.
On July 18 and 19, DCA officials raided a medical shop in Kompalle Village, Bhupalpally Mandal, located in Jayashankar Bhupalpally District. During the raid, they found ‘Itracar-200 Capsules’ (Itraconazole Capsules 200 mg) being sold. These capsules fall under price control as per the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. The pricing must follow the ‘Ceiling Price’ set by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), Government of India.
The ceiling price for these capsules, including the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), is Rs 22.12 per capsule. With an additional 12% GST, the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) should not exceed Rs 24.77 per capsule. However, the firm was charging an excess of Rs 51 for four capsules, violating the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.
Moreover, the DCA also seized drugs with misleading advertisements. A senior officer mentioned that these drugs had labels claiming to treat ‘tumours’ and ‘diabetes,’ which were false.
Raids were conducted by Md Rafhi Shaik, Drugs Inspector at Jadcherla; N Sahaja, Drugs Inspector at Kukatpally; and Dr R Geethanjali, Drugs Inspector at Prashanthinagar. Further investigations will be carried out, and actions will be taken against all offenders as per the law.
