Codeine: NAFDAC reopens firms, asks Emzor to produce sales rep

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has asked Emzor Pharmaceuticals Industries Limited to produce its sales representative who captured in a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary selling codeine syrup to undercover journalists who posed as illegal drug dealers.
NAFDAC, in a statement by its Director-General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, said it might be forced to declare the employee wanted if he was not produced.
The agency also announced that it had reopened the production line of Emzor and two other companies – Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited and Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited – which were shut last Monday as part of investigations into the abuse of codeine syrup.
NAFDAC said the decision was taken after a meeting with the heads of the companies. Dr. Stella Okolie represented Emzor while Mr. Samuel Akinlaja and Mr. Rahamon Bioku represented Peace Standard Pharmaceuticals and Bioraj Pharmaceuticals respectively.
The statement read in part, “The agency (NAFDAC) should arrest, if need be declare as wanted, and investigate the sales representative indicted in the BBC documentary to ascertain his level of culpability in the illegal distribution of codeine cough syrup.
“The company should furnish the agency with all relevant information about him. The chief security officer of the company should be invited for interrogation. The company’s good manufacturing practices should be improved and verifiable
“There is a need to reconcile the list of the company’s accredited distributors with the names on the stock card in order to ensure good distribution practice.”
It also advised Emzor to develop a system to monitor distributors’ activities.
NAFDAC said the three companies had been fined appropriately for violations but did not state how much they would pay.
For Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited, NAFDAC said the company violated good distribution practices by not monitoring the accredited distributors.
It said a worker colluded with a sacked employee to illegally distribute codeine cough syrup that was allegedly stolen from the company.
The company was also cited for bad storage practice or poor good manufacturing practice.
The agency said the sale, importation and production of codeine-infused syrup remained banned.
-Punch