Erbil police seize medicines, make arrests in pharmaceutical crackdown
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Police in Erbil seized stores of banned, unlicensed, and counterfeit medicines on Thursday and made several arrests as part of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) crackdown on backdoor dealings in the pharmaceutical industry intensifies.
Under the supervision of Erbil officials and "after a thorough investigation, officers also confiscated a warehouse of herbal remedies in the Brayati neighborhood,” read a statement released later that day by the local government. Police also arrested the owners of three houses in Erbil's Farmanbaran and Sharawani districts, where counterfeit and illegal drugs were stored and took possession of all goods discovered there.
The actions came after the head of an investigative court in Erbil examined the case of illicit dealings involving various healthcare-related businesses and ruled in favor of the arrest of the individuals involved and seizure of their products and property.
In mid-October, The Kurdistan Region put into effect new regulations on the region’s pharmaceutical industry after sales of counterfeit drugs and claims of shady deals between doctors and companies selling or distributing medicines raised concerns among the local population.
The new directives were cataloged in five documents signed by regional Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, one of which read, "Any [illicit] deal in any manner or under any justification between doctors and pharmacists or salespersons of pharmaceutical companies on medicinal goods is prohibited."
Backroom agreements between drug companies and doctors or hospitals are nothing new on the world stage. For decades, they have led to legislation aimed at curbing them across Europe and the US, where a current opioid addiction and overdose crisis is widely blamed on years of industry-inspired overprescription of narcotic pain medication.
In recent years, the growing prevalence of such arrangements in the Kurdistan Region has become common knowledge for students studying in pharmaceutical schools, and in turn, the public at large.
Local media reports suggest commonplace deals set up by companies incentivizing doctors to prescribe for their patients either excessive amounts of medication or of drugs unrelated to the diagnosed illness, done to increase sales and create larger returns for businesses engaging in the activity.
In August, authorities arrested over a dozen people and closed down multiple stores that, after a special KRG committee investigated the matter, were found to have been selling imitation brands of medicine and/or those without proper licenses.
Editing by John J. Catherine
