LAHORE: The continued deadlock over amendments to the drugs act between druggists and the Punjab government has led to one crucial aspect regulators have so far not implemented the law introduced to provide for a strict punishment regime to ensure provision of quality medicines to people.

The law, for the first time in the history of the province, provides for maximum and minimum punishments and fine for a single definition of spurious drugs, also changing the nomenclature of sub-standard drugs.

In the original drugs act, a drug containing just 1pc of the active ingredient was not considered substandard. But its amended version states a drug is spurious if it does not contain full quantity of the active ingredient.

Now, druggists say the limit of the active ingredient can inadvertently be less than the required quantity due to production technicalities.

Therefore, they should not be declared spurious.

The government refuses to accept this demand on the grounds that technical or human error does not allow a marked reduction in the ratio of the active ingredient in adrug. The ratio is reduced to save money and makes a drug ineffective, it states.

To solve the issue, it is proposing to grade the reduced ratio of the ingredient. It says margin of error can be given to a drug if the ratio of its active ingredient is, say, 10pc less than the required amount. Any further reduction would mean the drug is spurious. It offers to introduce a separate legal regime for the purpose.

Officials claim druggists refuse to accept the proposal. They want the government to withdraw punishment of both imprisonment and fine and their minimum limits for violation of the law. Thereshould either be imprisonment or fine as was provided in the original drugs act, they say, also demanding reversion of the procedure of taking action against manufacturers and sellers of spurious drugs.

But, officials say, the harsh punishment was ordered by the chief minister to deter production of spurious and substandard drugs. He wanted a strict law to avoid recurrence of the instance of drug provided to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology that killed several people. And the chief minister will decide whether to implement the new law or tailor it to the druggists` comfort level.