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March trial for pharmaceutical supplier charged for providing expired HIV testing kits
Area Manager of Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc. Davendra Rampersaud.
Kaieteur News – The trial for an executive of a pharmaceutical supplies company, that is charged for providing fake HIV testing kits to the Ministry of Health, is expected to commence in March 2021.
The company, Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc., is one of the country’s biggest local pharmaceutical supply companies.
Earlier this year, the company was charged and the matter is being heard in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Zameena Ali-Seepaul.
The company was charged by the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD).
Area Manager, Davendra Rampersaud, is the representative in court for the matter who is facing the charge. The matter is being prosecuted by Shemroy Pompey, a Drug Inspector for the Guyana Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD).
During the hearing of the matter yesterday, Rampersaud received full disclosure of statements and the matter was adjourned to March 2021, when the trial is expected to commence.
On his first court appearance, Rampersaud denied the charge which alleged that on January 16, 2020, Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc. allegedly sold and supplied 400 units (20 packs) of Uni-gold HIV Test Kits, Batch #HIV7120026, with misleading representation, a violation of the Food and Drugs Act of 1971.
According to reports, a quantity of the testing kits was seized by the GA-FDD from the Materials Management Unit of the Ministry of Public Health, at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and from local hospitals and laboratories.
The probe was launched into the fake HIV testing kits after an Irish manufacturer
last January wrote to the former Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, warning that it is aware that there are counterfeit Uni-Gold HIV test kits in Guyana.
The Irish company supplied photographic evidence, which indicated clearly that the kits expired since July last year. The company, Trinity Biotech, in its complaint, named Caribbean Medical Supplies.
According to the manufacturer, the fake boxes were created with expiry dates extended by 17 months and the kits repacked in them. The Irish pharmaceutical company said that the products were already six months out of date when it was brought to Guyana.
Trinity Biotech also claimed that its Trinidad-based authorized distributor, Transcontinental Medical Products Limited, is the only authorized distributor for the Uni-Gold kits to Guyana and it had not participated in the transaction.
In fact, Trinity called on Lawrence to remove the expired kits from testing centres immediately as they posed health risks to patients.
The company had filed a complaint with the WHO.
Trinity said that it had previously complained about Caribbean Medical Supplies to the Ministry.
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