Police told to probe illegal medicine trading<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): While indicating that city officials were
\nimplicated in the wrongdoing, Governor Sutiyoso called on the
\ncity police on Friday to follow up on the results of a recent
\nraid on distributors of illegal medicine.<\/p>\n
\"City police must follow up on the results of a recent raid by
\ncity officials,\" he told reporters at City Hall, referring to a
\nraid on Feb. 21 when thousands of antibiotic pills and other
\nprescribed medicines were confiscated from several drugstores.<\/p>\n
The raid was organized by a joint team of the City Public
\nOrder Office, the City Health Agency, the Jakarta office of the
\nMinistry of Health, City Police detectives, City Military Police
\nheadquarters (Pomdam) and the City Food and Medicine Control
\noffice (Balai POM).<\/p>\n
\"We will punish all officials who were involved in
\ndistributing the illegal medicines,\" the governor said.<\/p>\n
\"It's possible that the officials were really involved in the
\ndistribution. But, it's also possible that the officials were
\nonly negligent of the regulations,\" he said, while promising a
\nthorough investigation into the matter.<\/p>\n
Coordinator of the team, R. Rachmat S, told reporters earlier
\nin the morning that the team raided four drugstores on Feb. 21.
\nThey were Iki Jaya in Glodok, West Jakarta, and Sehat, Sanusi and
\nMuara Tanjung in Pramuka Market, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The drugstores sold prescribed medicine. These types of
\nmedicines are only allowed to be sold at dispensaries with
\nphysicians' prescriptions,\" Rachmat said.<\/p>\n
When asked why it had taken the team so long to reveal the
\nresults, he said the planned massive raids on notorious
\ndrugstores had been leaked to the owners.<\/p>\n
\"Once we raided the first four drugstores, other stores around
\nthe city discontinued the practice. It was pointless continue our
\nraids. We have to wait,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Most of the medicines were antibiotics, such as amoxycillin
\nand ampicillin. There were also unregistered medicines, which
\nwere imported from countries, such as Taiwan and Germany.<\/p>\n
\"We must investigate these imported medicines, because
\npresently, we have no information about the substances,\" City
\nHealth Agency's head of Pharmacy section Tuti Muliati told
\nreporters.<\/p>\n
She said her agency had identified 742 drugstores in the city,
\nbut only 307 of them had valid two year licenses.<\/p>\n
One of the traders admitted that they sold medicine 40 percent
\nto 50 percent cheaper than those sold at dispensaries.<\/p>\n
\"I received the medicine from salesmen who regularly sent the
\ndrugs to us. But I don't know where the salesmen are from,\" the
\ntrader, who asked for anonymity, said.<\/p>\n
Tuti said she could not understand how the drugstores could
\nsell the medicine at cheaper prices.<\/p>\n
\"They (drugstore owners) might get the medicine directly from
\nthe producers. It's also possible that the medicines are fake. We
\nhave to test them at POM's drug laboratory,\" said Tuti.<\/p>\n
\"The medicines also may have exceeded the expiration dates and
\nthat's why prices are much cheaper.<\/p>\n
\"However, consuming expired medicine can pose threats to a
\nperson's health as the drugs may turn into dangerous poisons,\"
\nshe added.<\/p>\n
Bogus drugs<\/p>\n
Separately, dozens of the huge number of sidewalk medicine
\ntraders at several places in the city claimed on Friday that they
\nhave no idea if the drugs they are selling were said to be bogus
\nitems.<\/p>\n
Some street vendors at Roxy, Senen and Tanah Abang areas in
\nCentral Jakarta, for example, said they have no capability in
\ndifferentiating the authentic and the fake ones.<\/p>\n
Vendor Udin, 50, from Roxy said that he just bought the drugs
\nfrom a grocery store and put them on sales at his small kiosk.<\/p>\n
\"If there are bogus drugs here, I will just return them to the
\ndrug stores where I purchased the medicines from,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, Udin, who started selling medicines on the city
\nstreets since 1980s, firmly believed that all items in his kiosk
\nare of the original drugs.<\/p>\n
\"I think people will produce the bogus ones and offer them at
\nhigher prices so that they could gain bigger profit,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The presence of the widely distribution of fake medicines in
\nthe capital stunned many people following the last week raid by
\nSouth Jakarta office of Ministry of Health at Blok A and Mayestik
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n
But medical experts doubted the finding.<\/p>\n
Head of internal disease division at Cipto Mangunkusumo
\nGeneral Hospital, Sulaeman Markum, was quoted on Friday by a
\nlocal paper that to determine whether the medicines were bogus
\nthey should be examined through a comprehensive laboratory test.<\/p>\n
\"Even medical doctors will find it difficult to identify the
\ndifference of the sophisticated packaging,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Vendor Mauludin, who sold medicines at Tanah Abang area, urged
\npublic not to immediately blamed the street traders like him on
\nthe circulation of the bogus medicines, which could endanger
\npeople's life.<\/p>\n
\"Our price is cheaper because we only take small profits,
\nwhich something can't be done by pharmacies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mauludin said that many sidewalk vendors often sell medicines
\nat the competitive price with the help of hospital employees, who
\nillegally sell the medicines to the traders.<\/p>\n
\"I myself am not brave enough to do such business. What I've
\never done was buying drugs from patients, who did not finish all
\nthe medicine as ordered by their doctors,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Other vendor Suryawan from Senen also shared similar
\nexperience.<\/p>\n
\"Such practice is usually done by employees, whose medical
\nexpenses are covered by their companies,\" he said. (nvn\/ind)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-told-to-probe-illegal-medicine-trading-1447893297",
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