WEB DESK
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has raided a den of Panadol hoarders in Karachi, retrieving at least 252,000 tablets from their custody.
The spokesperson of the ministry of health has said that an artificial shortage of the coveted fever and pain-reducing medicine was created to raise its prices.
According to the authorities, the recovered Panadol stockpile was stored by Altaf Traders in the Karachi Kachi Gali Medicine Market to allegedly create artificial scarcity of the medicine amid flood-induced high demand.
The spokesperson for the authority also said a fair amount of unwarranted medicine stockpile was also found in the pharmacy during the raid, which was taken into custody and sent to the lab for tests.
He said sellers of fake and substandard medicines will be nabbed and punished for undermining public health and safety.
Meanwhile, Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel has warned of stern action against those artificially manipulating medicine prices in the country through stockpiling as well as those selling substandard drugs.
The health minister maintained that no one will be allowed to profit from the miseries of the people and profiteering will bear serious consequences.
He said those involved in illegal activities concerning medicine retail will be punished severely.
Patel also vowed to undertake massive reforms in the health sector to ensure increased efficiency.
Earlier, the Drug Manufacturers Associations said that a leading pharmaceutical company had stopped the manufacturing of popular paracetamol brand Panadol after it found that production was no longer cost-effective.
