Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).
According to the Health Ministry, he replaces former NMRA Chairman Prof. S.D. Jayaratne.
In the recent past, the NMRA under the leadership of Prof. S.D. Jayaratne has faced several allegations with regard to the influx of inferior-quality medicines.
In September this year, Senior Consultant Physician Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama accused the NMRA Director Board of having ignored recommendations made by the specialists’ consultant committee and having authorised the import of unauthorised medicines at the request of the Health Ministry.
At the time, Dr. Wijewickrama said that the Specialist Consultant Committee refused to grant approval to procure certain types of medicine, but the NMRA Director Board surpassed the recommendations of the committee and provided approval to procure some unregistered medication. (NewsWire)
