The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has said that the agency has swung in to investigate the four pharmaceutical companies at the heart of the undercover report conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on codeine abuse in Nigeria.
She added that any of the companies found culpable after conclusion of investigations would be severely dealt with according to the law.
Adeyeye said, “These companies that were caught, from our records, have limited amount of codeine, but from what the documentary showed there is indication that the production is more than the quantity that was approved. So the question can be asked, was there smuggling involved?
“Our findings will determine what happens next, but ordinarily we will take and destroy products, and if we go through their books and we find they have committed violations, sanctions will apply, and for having loose distribution chain, we will not give you permit for renewal.
“We have to start from somewhere and it is unfortunate that it is tragedies like this that are forcing us to start from somewhere. NAFDAC has not done optimally what it is supposed to do, we are supposed to be inspecting these companies at least once a year, but we are so limited in our capacity. We do not have vehicles to inspect fully.
“I met with my directors, what we decided as a regulatory agency is that what we are going to do is put a temporary ban or embargo on issuance of permits for codeine, because we have had a lot of problem with distribution of the products.
“Yes it is a ban, but a ban that needs time and concerted efforts. The ban will be in place until we all get our act together because we cannot just continue the way things are now. It is to enable us to have enough time to address the issues that needs to be addressed.”