Dozen generic drugs blacklisted in TN Will Be Barred From Supply For Two Years

Dozen generic drugs blacklisted in TN Will Be Barred From Supply For Two Years

Pushpa.Narayan@timesofindia.com  30.09.2024 

Chennai : At least 15 generic drugs, including tablets and injectables, have been blacklisted since Jan by TN Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC), a govt agency that supplies medicines and medical equipment to govt hospitals. The quality control department found adozen of these medications, prescribed for conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and thyroid disorders, “not of standard quality”, and the purchase department blacklisted three others for not following tender norms. “None of the drugs reached the hospital wards,” said TNMSC MD MArvind. 

“As soon as drugs reach warehouses, they go into quarantine for at least two weeks. During this time, samples from every batch are sent to any of the 12 accredited labs across India for quality checks,” he said. Drugs that don’t pass quality tests will be blacklisted and barred from supply for nearly two years. Additionally, samples from drugs that are sent to district warehouses and govt hospitals are also drawn periodically for quality tests to ensure the quality has not come down over time. Samples that fail quality tests this time must be replaced by the company within a specific period without additional charge.

 “Our system ensures that on most occasions, drugs that are spurious or those that don’t have the right dosage of active ingredients are caught at the entry level,” he said. Earlier this week, Maharashtra reported supply of spurious drugs that contained starch and talcum powder to govt hospitals. CDCSO also reported that at least 50 batches of medicines including those given for acid reflux, sexual dysfunction, hypertension, antibiotics and paracetamol were spurious. Data shows TNMSC has blacklisted 45 drugs — essential and speciality drugs — including antibiotics. While both “not of standard quality” and “substandard” drugs are deviations from the expected quality, substandard drugs pose a more significant threat to patient health. 

Substandard drugs often involve adulteration, contamination, or the presence of harmful substances.Not of standard quality drugs are those that fail to meet the specified quality standards set by regulatory authorities. Over the past three years, percentage of drugs that failed quality tests has been around 0.5% of the total purchase. “We have managed to bring it down over a period of time. Generic drug manufacturers participating in the TN tender system now know they wont be able pass quality test with substandard drugs,” Arvind said.