NAFDAC warns Imo medicine sellers against fake and expired drugs

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control warned patent medicine sellers in Imo State on Friday. They should not sell fake, expired, or dangerous drugs to unsuspecting people.

NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave this warning in Owerri. She spoke during a workshop on drug safety and monitoring.

The workshop was mainly for members of the Nigerian Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers (NAPPMED).

Adeyeye, who was represented by Dr. Festus Ukadike, the South-East Zonal Director of NAFDAC, called out “greedy” sellers. They should not put profit over people’s lives by selling dangerous drugs.

“Any unregistered product is fake. If you sell unregistered products, it means you are selling fake products,” she said.

She added that making money should never come before public health.

She criticized bad practices in the supply chain. This includes illegally extending expired shelf dates, changing labels, and using “dubious” suppliers who offer low prices.

The NAFDAC boss reminded everyone that the ban on selling dangerous, unregistered, and controlled substances is still active.

She mentioned specific issues, like high-dose tramadol, anarcha, and other banned medicines that are still being sold illegally at the community level.

“Expired medicines have no second life; once they have expired, they must never be given a second chance to endanger human lives,” she said.

NAFDAC has started using smart surveillance and handheld scanners to track supply chains. They will raid illegal warehouses and close down non-compliant sellers.

“Vendors selling fake drugs will face immediate closure, product seizure, heavy fines, and criminal charges,” she said.

Dr. Cletus Agwu, an Assistant Chief Regulatory Officer, spoke about “Good Storage and Distribution Practices.”

He emphasized the need for minimum operational standards and quality control throughout the supply chain.

Agwu urged wholesalers and distributors to get medical products only from approved manufacturers and supply them to licensed sellers.

He stressed that distributors “must maintain strict quality systems, proper temperature controls, and accurate records.”

“Whatever is not documented is not done,” Agwu said.

In another talk on “Pharmacovigilance,” Mrs. Helen Okanya, the NAFDAC State Coordinator, stressed monitoring medicine safety after they hit the market.

“No medicinal product is entirely safe for all humans in all places at all times; we must always live with some measures of uncertainty,” Okanya said.

She encouraged patent medicine sellers to report suspected bad reactions, quality issues, and substandard medicines using NAFDAC’s digital MedSafety App.

She assured everyone that reporting these problems is aimed at fixing public health issues, not blaming operators.

She also mentioned that similar workshops have taken place for patent medicine sellers in the Okigwe and Orlu areas of the state.

In an interview, Mr. Cyprian Okonkwo, the State Chairman of NAPPMED, praised NAFDAC for the workshop.

Okonkwo said the workshop greatly benefited members, improving their understanding of safety and compliance.

He promised to share what he learned with all medicine vendors in the 27 local government areas, with special focus on identifying and rejecting banned products.

He also confirmed that the association would keep working with NAFDAC to eliminate fake, expired, and substandard drugs to protect public health.