In its latest monthly report, India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has found more than 50 drugs to be Not of Standard Quality (NSQ), underlining the massive gap in quality control measures in commonly used medications. These drugs include basic essential drugs like paracetamol, calcium and vitamin D3 tablets, anti-diabetes and anti-hypertension pills.
The committee noted that major pharmaceutical firms like Hetero Drugs, Alkem Laboratories, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), Macleods Pharmaceuticals, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd also figure on the list along with Meg Lifesciences and Ayurvedic manufacturer-Bhaskara Vilasam Vaidyasala are under scanner.
The report also provides concerns that possible fake medications may exist on the market. A Kolkata drug-testing lab found brands like Clavam 625 and Pan-D antibiotics from Alkem and Cepodem XP 50 by Hetero to be "spurious". Sun Pharma and Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL) also confirmed that some batches of their drugs, like Pulmosil, Pantocid, Metronidazole had been misbranded as their own products which could be spurious. Those claims are being investigated.
NSQ & Spurious drugs listed by CDSCO:
https://cdsco.gov.in/opencms/opencms/system/modules/CDSCO.WEB/elements/download_file_division.jsp?num_id=MTIwMTA=
Not of Standard Quality (NSQ), alerts are created based on random monthly sampling conducted by state drug officers in order to detect samples of dangerous, defective or misbranded drugs. The respective State Drugs Licensing Authorities failed to submit data on NSQ alerts, highlighting the lack in uniform regulatory compliance across the different regions of the country.
According to CDSCO, it has always been committed towards drug quality and will continue the regulatory control over imported drugs, clinical trials and new drug approvals. This highlights the need for proper quality control measures within the pharmaceutical industry with investigations ongoing.
Doctors are encouraged to stay informed of such alerts to safeguard patient health and maintain trust in medical treatments.
