Medicines Worth 38 Billion Soms Found in Tashkent Without Certificates and with Expired Shelf Life

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In Tashkent region, a joint raid conducted by the State Security Service and other law enforcement agencies inspected a warehouse belonging to a local pharmacy.

The inspection revealed medicines totaling 38 billion soms across 1,209 items. Of these, approximately 20 billion soms worth of drugs were stored without the required international GDP certificate (necessary for storage, transport, and sale) and without certification from the relevant agency under the Pharmaceutical Industry Development Agency.

Among the seized items, 10,509 packages of 30 drug types worth 263.921 million soms had expired. Additionally, 639 packages of three drug types and 243 gel products had falsified expiration dates.

According to the State Center for Pharmaceutical Product Safety, pharmacy officials stored medicines outside the premises authorized by their license. Ten items lacked certificates of conformity, one item was illegally manufactured (counterfeit), nine items were not registered in the national registry, and twenty expired items were not properly destroyed.

As a result, the storage, sale, transport, and use of these medicines in medical practice in Uzbekistan are prohibited.

Currently, a criminal case has been opened against the pharmacy officials under Part 3, Article 186³ “a” of the Criminal Code. Investigative actions are underway.