The Kakrail branch of Lazz Pharma, one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains, has been fined Tk29 lakh for keeping and selling expired medicine.
A mobile court of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) conducted the drive from 1pm to 7pm on Monday and seized over 76 types of unauthorized and expired medicine worth Tk50 lakh.
RAB-3 Executive Magistrate Palash Kumar Basu confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune.
He said: “Seven individuals, including the branch manager, accountant, and supervisor, have been fined for selling expired medicine under The Drugs Act 1940.
“Five of them -- Amirul Islam, Md Al Mamun, Mamunur Rashid, Hridoy Sarkar, Roton Sarkar -- were fined Tk5 lakh each, and two others -- Rubel Hossain and Mostakin Nazim -- were fined Tk2 lakh each.”
“This branch of Lazz Pharma did not even get its license renewed since April 2018.
“They were selling various types of unauthorized drugs including sexual stimulants and unapproved food supplements. We have also found evidence that the employees here were tempering with the manufacturing and expiry dates of the medicines in stock,” he added.
Some of the consumers who got scammed with the expired medicines were also present during the raid.
