Apollo Pharma reviewing sale of Ranbaxy drugs, but no ban yet

Apollo Pharmacy, an arm of the Apollo Hospitals group, has said that it is verifying all necessary certifications of Ranbaxy Laboratories drugs in the wake of recent quality issues, but clarified and that it has not suspended the sale of the drugs.

Last month, Mumbai's Jaslok Hospital had issued an advisory to its doctors to avoid prescribing Ranbaxy drugs, but it stopped short of actually banning them. So far, no other hospital is reported to have followed suit.

A statement from Apollo Pharmacy – India's largest pharmacy chain with 1,500 stores across the country – said, "A cautionary advisory was issued based on concerns raised by the medical committee.

"We have been working closely with Ranbaxy over the past week to verify all necessary certifications of their drugs. The matter is in the process of being resolved as Ranbaxy continues to provide the necessary paperwork," the chain's official spokesman said.

On 13 May, Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to felony charges for selling adulterated drugs manufactured at two of its units in India; and agreed to pay $500 million to settle the case (See: Ranbaxy fined $500 mn by US regulator over drug safety lapses). 

Two weeks later, Jaslok Hospital in south Mumbai issued an advisory to doctors cautioning them not to prescribe medicines manufactured by the company.

Following this, the Indian Medical Association asked the Drug Controller General of India to investigate the quality of drugs manufactured and sold by Ranbaxy (See: An doctors' body asks DCGI to probe Ranbaxy drug quality). 

Ranbaxy manufactures medicines for cardiovascular, respiratory and gastro-intestinal ailments, besides anti-retroviral drugs. Its scrip has plummeted from Rs440 on 12 May, a day before the company was penalised, to Rs377 on Friday.