The patients are falling prey to the immoral and criminal business by the unscrupulous traders.

The authorities concerned and doctors termed it a criminal act, saying it will pose serious hazard for human health.

The patients as well as sections concerned said the illegal trading is going on due to poor inspection by the drug administration.

A mobile court during its drives recently found two pharmacies and a drug store of a clinic, run by a non-government organisation (NGO), were selling date-expired medicines.

The court led by Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Magistrate Md Munir Chowdhury raided M/s Helal Medico at Bandartila area of South Halishahar on June 3 and seized date-expired and contraband medicines worth around Tk 1 lakh.

The court during the drive in cooperation with the drug administration seized huge medicines including tablet, capsule and injection meant for different diseases like diabetes as well as anti-biotic and painkiller, with their dates expired in between 2001 and 2006.

The same court in a separate drive on June 6 found M/s Janani Medicine Centre at Halishahar DT Road is conserving and selling date-expired and contraband drugs, including 'Viagra'.

Munir Chowdhury told journalists that he had enough proof of the involvement of many pharmacies in densely populated areas like EPZ industrial zone and its surrounding Halishahar, Bandartila and Steel Mill, in such criminal activities.

Many people specially the labourers and members of lower middle class families, who hardly care about date expiry, usually buy medicines from the pharmacies without consulting the doctors.

Rahela Begum, a garments worker, was seen buying a painkiller for her acute headache from a pharmacy without any advice from a physician in Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) area on Friday morning.

Rahela said she never heard of expiry dates of drugs.

Atikul Islam, an administrative officer at CEPZ, also has the similar view, saying he too rarely takes note of the dates when he buys medicines.

A section of dishonest traders sell tablets erasing the portion where the dates are printed, he added.

The mobile court, which now appears as the lone saviour to check the dishonest act, continued its drive against the drug dealers and pharmacies.

The mobile court sources said it unearthed conserving and selling of date-expired medicines in 10 pharmacies and one private clinic in the city during its drives in six months since June in 2006.

Around 3,000 pharmacies are doing business in the city legally with drug licences, said a drug administration official.

In addition to these, the illegal pharmacies have mushroomed in the densely populated areas like Bakalia, Chandanpura, Kalurghat industrial area. They are running their business without any drug licences and required pharmacists, the official said.

Kanchan Mitra, owner of a pharmacy at Sheikh Mujib Road, said local pharmaceutical companies like Beximco, Opsonin, Square, Incepta, Acme, Reneta, Biopharm and others are supposed to take back the unsold date-expired drugs and return the money against those items to them.

The traders are forced to sell date-expired medicines as most of the companies refuse to take back the unsold drugs, he added.

Omar Ibne Ali, general secretary of Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Association, said regular inspection by the drug administration authorities could control such a practice.

Ruhul Amin, one of the two superintendent officers of the divisional office of Drug Administration, said they try their level best to carry out continuous inspection in the pharmacies despite shortage of manpower.

Only two officers and four clerks of the divisional office are to manage the whole administrative work in Chittagong district and Rangamati, he added.

Dr Md Abu Sayeed, assistant professor of the medicine ward of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), said date-expired medicines can play no role in improving illness rather act as poison.

A patient suffering from diseases meningitis or infections that badly need anti-biotic risks death through taking date-expired antibiotics, he said.

Taking such date-expired drugs might even lead to toxic reaction in different organs of the body like lever, stomach and intestine, he added.