Crackdown on Substandard Drugs: A National Health Alert

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and state drug regulators identified 90 drug samples, including three spurious ones, as not meeting standard quality in October. These were found during quality checks, with investigations underway to tackle unauthorized manufacturing and safeguard public health.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation announced that 56 drug samples tested in central laboratories during October were not of standard quality. Additionally, the Union health ministry revealed that 34 samples evaluated by state drug regulators also fell short of quality benchmarks.

In a concerning development, three drug samples identified by the Bihar Drugs Control Authority were declared spurious, manufactured by unauthorized entities using another company's brand name. The government has initiated an investigation into this issue.

Regular checks, in collaboration with state regulators, aim to detect and remove non-standard and spurious drugs from the market. Deficiencies are specific to tested batches and do not signify flaws in all market-available drugs, clarified the health ministry.

(With inputs from agencies.)