HYDERABAD: With restricted sale of popular cough syrups containing codeine phosphate, are addicts now exploring generic form of cough syrups to get high?
Officials of Telangana Drug Control Administration (DCA) recently came across one of the cases where a student was found with a generic form of cough syrup bottle in his bag. Further investigation into the case led to the pharmacy stores and wholesale agencies selling Eskuf cough syrup, containing the drug codeine phosphate without prescriptions.
Joint director of the DCA M Amruth Rao said that schedule-H1 drug has to be sold by retailers only if prescription is produced.
The wholesale agents and store owners in the city tried to conceal the trail leading to them by raising bills in which it was stated that the syrup bottles were sold to two medical stores in the city.However, investigation revealed that it was not the case.
The shady sale of the cough syrup is not restricted to the city or the state. Officials have found that it was also sold to those in Karnataka by a medical store located in Zaheerabad, bordering the neighbouring state. The Telangana DCA officials have alerted their counterparts in Karnataka about the issue.
When DCA officials pulled the string, they got details on the chain of people through which the cough syrup is being sold without prescription. During the raids conducted on end of the year 2016 and first week of January, drug inspectors found that Yagna Shreeya medical agencies in Moosarambagh and Hari medical agencies in Koti were dealing with the drugs .
The syrup bottles from the agencies reached Safdar medical and general stores through several other people. They found 34 syrup bottles at the Safdar medical store without purchase bill.
The seizures in Hyderabad were conducted by drug inspector CH Anil Kumar, N Sahaja, Mohd Rafhi Shaik, under supervision of assistant directors B Sowbhagya Laxmi and V Balanaganjan.