Govt issues alert as 41 batches of drugs found to be not of standard quality

Govt issues alert as 41 batches of drugs found to be not of standard quality 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 28.12.2024 

New Delhi : More than 40 batches of drugs being sold in the market have been found to be of not-of-standard quality (NSQ) by the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) in its latest survey. The CDSCO, which is the apex body responsible for approval of new drugs and clinical trials, has issued an alert regarding this. The CDSCO issues alerts about non-standard quality drugs being sold in the market monthly. 

According to its latest data, they found 41 batches of drugs manufactured by various firms to be of not-of-standard quality in November. This included some of the drugs prescribed for common conditions such as fever, acid reflux and reducing blood clot among others. Identification of drug samples as NSQ is done based on failure of the drug sample in one or the other specified quality parameters. The failure is specific to the drug products of the batch tested by the govt, officials said. “This action of identifying NSQ and spurious medicines is taken on a regular basis in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market,” she added. 

Recently, the CDSCO introduced new guidelines for the inspections. It stated that all drug inspectors in the country should collect at least 10 samples in a month; nine samples of drugs and one sample of cosmetics/medical device. Also, new guidelines said, the drug inspectors must plan the sampling in such a way that samples are forwarded to the laboratory on the same day of sampling.