The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) 's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Delese Darko, has been accused of not fighting a good fight in the suit filed against the authority by Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Tobinco, in 2019, sued the FDA, accusing the authority of unlawfully seizing and destroying their drugs.
The High Court in Accra, which has been hearing the case, has now ruled in favour of the pharmaceutical company and ordered the FDA to pay it about GH¢94m in judgment debt.
A 2017 letter by Dr Delese Darko, addressed to lawyers of Tobinco, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co, has now gone viral.
In the letter, the FDA boss, responding to a letter from the lawyers, said that the authority did nothing wrong with its actions against the pharmaceutical company.
Darko insisted that Tobinco not only violated the laws of the country but also put the lives of Ghanaians at risk with its decision to import fake drugs into the country.
"The FDA would like to put on record, for the avoidance of doubt, that your client, in blatant disregard of national laws, and in particular, the Public Health Act 2012 (Act 851), endangered the health and safety of Ghanaians, and especially the health of Ghanaian children, by importing, distributing and offering for sale fake, substandard and unregistered medical products.
"Please note that the law criminalises the above conduct and empowers the FDA to act swiftly and timeously in such instances to avert any danger posed to the public," the FDA boss wrote.
She added, "We are of the firm belief that the FDA, acting through its officers, acted properly, diligently, in accordance with due process and in the reasonable belief that their failure to so act would jeopardise public health and safety."
She also stated that the FDA does not owe Tobinco over the actions it took.
"We wish to state emphatically that the FDA is not indebted to your client in any way, whether by way of contract or tort or at all."
Read the letter below:
BAI/SEA
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