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MPA urges AP govt to clarify the authority to inspect Ayurveda retail shops as per DMR Act
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Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
May 08 , 2024
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The Medical Practitioners Association (MPA), an association of institutionally qualified ayurvedic medical professionals in Andhra Pradesh, has urged the state government to clarify the authority to inspect the Ayurveda medical shops and drug manufacturing companies under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
In a memorandum given to the director general of the Drug Control Administration (DCA) and to the Ayush Directorate, the president of the MPA has alleged that the drug inspectors of the allopathic drug control administration are inspecting the Ayurveda medical shops and filing cases without informing the Ayush department.
Previously, once they inspected an Ayurveda pharmacy they would inform the Ayush department. Last month an inspector of the allopathic drug control administration conducted an inspection in an Ayurveda medical shop in Vijayawada and seized drugs worth Rs. 70,000 and filed a case against the pharmacy owner. Later, the inspector sealed the shop, says the memorandum.
MPA president Dr. Vemula Bhanu Prakash said that the Chapter IV-A of the D&C Act is exclusively dedicated for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani medicines (ASU). Under the powers conferred by Section 33 G of the Act, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has appointed Ayush medical officers of the Ayush department as Ayurveda drug inspectors in each district to monitor the manufacture and sale of Ayush products. But by usurping their powers and superseding them, the allopathic drug inspectors and their senior officers conduct inspections at the Ayurveda pharmacies and manufacturing premises. He said he has informed this matter to the Ayush department and held discussion with the commissioner.
His letter says that if any misleading advertisement or an inferior product is made or sold, the power to inspect the premises and register a case is vested with the Ayush drug inspectors as per Chapter IV-A of the drugs and cosmetics act. Dr. Vemula is demanding that if the allopathic drug inspectors are violating the rules, the government should amend the DMR Act 1954 for the sake of the Ayush system.
“According to Sub Rule (1) of the Rule 170 of the D&C Act, only the official authorities of the Ayush department have the right to raise the objectionable facts in the advertisements of manufacturers and practitioners and not with anybody else. A drug inspector of the allopathic department is not an inspecting authority appointed under Chapter IV-A, Section 33 G of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940. A drug inspector, according to Section 21 of the D&C Act, is empowered to deal with allopathic drugs only, and he is not a competent person to file a case against Ayurveda retailers without intimating the Ayush department,” he claimed.
The association has wanted the government to take steps with the Central government to amend the contradictory DMR Act 1954 to save the system of Ayush from this kind of issues. The Ayurveda medical practitioners have observed that amendment of the act is essential as at the time of the formation of the Act (1954), there were only classical or codified drugs in India, the proprietary drugs came into existence later on.
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