The Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted trader Elijah Chigbogu and two companies linked to him over the unlawful possession, importation and distribution of fake and unregistered pharmaceutical products.
The companies are Prolife & Well Pharmaceutical Limited and God of Elijah Nigeria Limited.
Justice Musa Kakaki convicted the defendants after they pleaded guilty to a four-count charge filed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
A plea-bargain arrangement was subsequently presented to the court, after which Chigbogu was fined ₦1.5 million.
NAFDAC alleged that products recovered from premises connected with the defendants included medicines marketed as Zanza Cyproheptadine, Calpol Suspension, Zirtek Allergy Relief, Candesartan, Nicorette, Lisinopril, Canesten Thrush treatment, Gaviscon Double Action and several other pharmaceutical products.
The agency alleged that the products were either fake, unregistered or unlawfully imported and distributed.
The offences were prosecuted under legislation regulating counterfeit and fake drugs as well as the registration of food and pharmaceutical products.
The case is particularly relevant to consumer-protection law because pharmaceutical regulation is concerned not merely with whether a medicine is sold, but whether its identity, composition, registration, manufacture and distribution can be independently verified.
Fake or improperly regulated medicines create risks that extend far beyond conventional commercial wrongdoing because the immediate consequence may be harm to health or life.
READ MORE: NAFDAC Shuts Down Abuja Pharmacy Over Expired Drugs
SOURCE: Punch Newspapers — latest court report
