Expired medicines flood local market— CPS

AMMAN –– Packs of expired medicines are “invading” the local market, according to the Consumer Protection Society (CPS). 

The “large” quantities of drugs that enter the Kingdom as part of international assistance for refugees are being used by “gangs” who seize them and alter their production and expiry dates, before selling them to pharmacies and hospitals, the society alleged. 

“The society has been investigating the issue for months. We discovered that a group of people from outside the Zaatari refugee camp in Mafraq take the expired medications before they are destroyed and modify their dates, in order to resell them in the local market,” CPS Spokesperson Sahem Abbadi told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

He argued that the perpetrators, who are still unidentified, take advantage of the “uncontrolled and unmonitored” destruction of the large quantities of expired drugs to make personal profit. 

“They take the medications to special areas and counterfeit their production and expiry dates before reselling them,” Abbadi said, adding that investigations into the incident are still under way. 

“We will make sure that they are held accountable,” he vowed. 

Meanwhile, the CPS recently stated that a number of restaurants in Irbid Governorate use titanium dioxide to make hummus. 

“This substance, which gives hummus a white, soft and thick texture, has proven to cause cancer,” Abbadi said, noting that the locations were sealed with red wax and the owners referred to court. 

“Public health violations are on the rise in Jordan; therefore, we will soon launch a smart phone application that allows people to report any wrongdoing to our organisation and to the Jordan Food and Drug Administration simultaneously and we will take action within one hour,” the CPS spokesperson said.   

Earlier in Ramadan, the society seized “huge” quantities of expired chicken that were about to be sold. 

Further investigations showed that a number of businesspeople were involved in the incident, prompting Amman Governor Saad Shihab to order the arrest of several suspects. 

The chicken was stockpiled in a storehouse in Maan, 220km south of Amman, after being bought from local poultry companies and slaughter houses five months before the confiscation.

The poultry was then sold to dealers and charitable societies in Amman, Maan and Karak. 

The suspects will be referred to the judiciary to identify all involved parties and determine the details of the case.