The vigilance of the Volta Regional Directorate of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has yielded dividend as two suspects peddling repackaged orthodox medicine as herbal product for patronage by unsuspecting public have been busted.
They are Joyce Domie, 45, and James Nyakpo, 35, who were arrested at ‘information centre’ at Sokode, a suburb of Ho Municipality.
Mr Gorden Akurugu, Regional Director of FDA, briefing the Ghana News Agency said, the duo were picked up upon tip-off of peddling varieties of unregistered medicinal products.
He said a number of unregistered drugs were seized from them, which contravenes section 118 of the Public Health Act, ACT 851, which stipulates that a person shall not manufacture, prepare, import, distribute, supply or exhibit for sale of a drug, herbal medicine product, cosmetic or any household chemical substances without approval from FDA.
Mr Akurugu said one of the drugs have been identified as Dexamethasone, which is a corticosteroid used in a wide range of health conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immune-suppressant properties and at the moment used in the management of COVID-19, strictly for patients on ventilators.
However, he said the suspects were selling this drug as pain-killers christened locally as “dompe dompe” to innocent customers, and noted that the drug could trigger serious health complications, if consumed by the public without prescription by a medical officer, saying “this drug is given at certain conditions, which the peddlers lacked”.
Mr Akurugu said the FDA had stepped up its surveillance in the region to reduce the surge in the activities of quacks peddling a number of unregistered food or medicinal products to the public.
The duo have been handed over to the police for further investigations and subsequent prosecution.
Other unregistered medicines discovered by the team include, Jae Mawu Herbal product, Paa Appiah capsules, Yesu Tease Manpower, Nana Appiah prostrate capsules, Paa Appiah Kooko capsules, Nana Amoakuwaa G Capsules, Blac Salt and oil and others.
Source: The Ghanaian Times
| Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
