The High Court directed the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to remove expired medicine from the market and destroy those by 30 days.
The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahsan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader came up with the order on Tuesday (Jun 18) following a writ petition filed by Barrister Mahfuzur Rahman Milon, executive director of Justice Watch Foundation, seeking necessary order in this regard.
Deputy Attorney General ABM Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar represented the state.
Secretaries of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Home Ministry, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of Industry; director generals of the Directorate General of Health Services, Drug Administration, and Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection; the inspector general of police; plus the chairman and convener of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, were made respondents to the writ.
In a different directive, the High Court ordered the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection Deputy Director, Manjur Mohammad Sahrir, to submit a report based upon the statement he made at an event in Dhaka on June 10 that received much media attention.
In his statement, Sahrir said 93% of the pharmacies in Dhaka sell expired medicines.
The court also ordered an independent investigation committee be formulated to detect expired medicine and identify its suppliers.
Advocate Mahfuzur Rahman filed the writ—annexing newspaper reports—on behalf of rights protection organization Justice Watch Foundation, on Jun 17.