Mumbai: State health minister Prakash Abitkar announced Monday the deployment of portable laser scanners in eight divisions that detect fake and substandard medicines in govt hospitals within two minutes.Every medicine has its own distinct chemical signature depending on the ingredients it contains. Based on Raman spectroscopy (named after physicist C V Raman), the machine uses inelastic light scattering to analyse molecular vibrations and verify these chemical signatures. It then matches these signatures with its internal library that contains ingredients for commonly used drugs. The device is being rolled out in eight pilot districts: Thane, Pune, Kolhapur, Solapur, Sangli, Amravati, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Latur.Each device, named TruScan Raman, costs Rs 1.2 crore and is manufactured by US-based Thermo Fisher Scientific. The company representatives claimed 116 of these machines have been purchased by Rajasthan FDA, but supply is pending. The company acknowledged data fed to the machine can be manipulated by users.Speaking to mediapersons, Abitkar said there is a standard operating procedure set for the use of this device to prevent any manipulation or malpractice. It would be handled by a ‘flying squad’ who would hold random tests of medicines supplied at hospitals and dispensaries under the public health department. Separate teams have been formed for the eight divisions with a two-member team active in each division. “We are moving from complaint-based system to action-driven system,” Abitkar said.The samples found contaminated through this machine would be retested using 12 NABL-approved laboratories. The health department expects test reports to be received within roughly eight days of sample submission. Officials said if lab tests confirm contamination, this information would be further conveyed to Food and Drug Administration (FDA).While the company representatives said they had also approached the state FDA in this regard earlier, Ganesh Rokade, joint commissioner (drug), said no such product has reached him after he took over earlier this year. He said, “We have our own labs which are capable of handling any tests. We have not had any demonstration of the product and neither is it functional anywhere in the country.” Health department officials said the product is US FDA-approved. It has an accuracy between 90% and 98%.Such devices are in use in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Nigeria, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
