Pharmacies Closed Down for Infringements of Law

Marvin Manzanero

The Ministry of Health has been closing down pharmacies across the country. Today, News Five confirmed with Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero that four pharmacies in the Cayo and Stann Creek districts have been shut down and many others may face the same fate. The Ministry of Heath has found these establishments to be operating without a certified pharmacist in violation of the Act. They were also selling unauthorized drugs and could not provide documentation on the sale of antibiotics. All this was detected as the Ministry of Health has been conducting inspections across the country.  Doctor Manzanero says that owners had been flagged and issued warnings for not adhering to the law, but seem to not be taking heed.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“When we started reviewing bills and legislation from back in 2016, I think we need to make people aware that we are not necessarily drafting new bills. There is an act that’s been there, perhaps hasn’t been enforced; basically the core of that is if you don’t have a pharmacist, you shouldn’t have a pharmacy. It is illegal; it is there in the act. We’ve been trying to negotiate with people in terms of ensuring that they comply at all levels in terms of what they are procuring, what they are selling—the sale of antibiotics, the sale of controlled drugs. Some people have simply just not been complying, some people we have sent them reminders, some people don’t respond. So we decided that it is time for us to start to take action. So we did go to some specific areas; some people who were on their third, and what we felt was their final warning, we just had to go in and close down. We were guided by the AG’s office and we can in fact do that. So we had to do a couple of closures in the Cayo area. We are not in Stann Creek, but this is going to be a countrywide exercise. It’s an ongoing exercise and it is not going to be easy because you might be closing down and two other pop up or you are going to have the clandestine sale of medication. I know we have been getting some heavy remarks on social media, but people need to understand that it isn’t the specific targeting of anybody. If there is any concern that people have, they need to be able to channel it to us and allow us to exercise the due diligence. But it is going to be applicable to everybody.”