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Enforcement coming for businesses selling legal drugs illegally

by Anesta Henry
3 min read
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Government is moving towards stopping establishments from selling pharmaceutical products for which they are not registered vendors.

According to Minister of Health, Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic, businesses having pharmaceutical items on their shelves without the necessary paperwork and permissions in place, is a matter of great concern which has been brought to his attention by the Pharmacy Council and which will soon be legally addressed with upcoming amendments to the Pharmacy Act.

Bostic said in the meantime, his ministry will be increasing the number of drug inspectors from three to five, to police the issue.

“The law is there and we don’t intend to try to criminalize people and I believe that the intent of the law really is to deter people first and foremost. But if that deterrence is not working and if we have repeat offenders, then if we sit idly by and do not take actions against such persons then we are going to run ourselves into trouble.

“What we do not want is for this kind of action and activity to continue unabated and not to act because if we fail to act then it is going to spread and it is going to be just as infectious and contagious as COVID-19 itself and we owe it to the people of Barbados to put an end to this. And I am hoping that with the increase in numbers of the inspectorate that we would be able to police this in a much better way going forward,” he said.

The Minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Barbados Drug Service, Drugs in the 21st Century: New Challenges, New Solutions, training workshop at Accra Beach Hotel, Christ Church, where he also said that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, that local pharmaceutical experts must monitor the pharmaceutical products on the international markets being offered as cures and tests.

“Even within the COVID pandemic, there are a lot of pharmaceuticals, there are a lot of things on the market internationally, people claiming all kinds of things and all kinds of tests, there are probably hundreds and thousands…you have to be vigilant on our behalf in this country to ensure that we don’t have these products coming into Barbados that do not meet our standards and that they are not given to our people to take with us knowing that they have not met the standards. So all eyes open, we need to be on guard,” he said.

He noted that the decision to amend the Pharmacy Act has been approved by Cabinet and it is now set to go before Parliament for debate. Bostic indicated that this is a significant step because the law will be better able to deal with governing pharmacies in the 21st century, including tackling major issues affecting that section of society.

“I will also say to the inspectorate and to the drug service and to the pharmacy council, that once we have made the amendments, the next step is really to enforce the law. The law is useless if it is not enforced,” Bostic said, noting that law enforcement and border protection agencies must also be involved in the process.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

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