5% of medicines found are substandard or spurious: Report

The CDSCO, in collaboration with various State DCAs, including the Telangana Drug Control Administration (TSDCA) conducted quality tests on random 1,167 drug samples in February, of which 58 turned out to be NSQs and 2 samples were spurious.

Hyderabad: About 5 per cent of the drugs that are purchased from medical shops in Hyderabad and other parts of the country are Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) or spurious in nature, which means they are adulterated, poor-in-quality, substandard and do not cure or treat the patient.

This distressing data point came to light in the recent countrywide testing of random samples of various kinds of medicines that were picked up in multiple urban centres, including Hyderabad by local Drug Control Administration (DCAs) and quality tests conducted under the guidance of the regulatory body, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

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The CDSCO, in collaboration with various State DCAs, including the Telangana Drug Control Administration (TSDCA) conducted quality tests on random 1,167 drug samples in February, of which 58 turned out to be NSQs and 2 samples were spurious.

According to reports, a similar exercise of checking for the quality of medicines, conducted in January in urban centres, including Hyderabad, also yielded a similar result, i.e. 5 per cent of medicines that are purchased by the common man in medical stores could be Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) or spurious in nature.

The CDSCO report said, a syrup Terbutaline Sulphate manufactured by Warner Hindusthan Private Limited, new IDA, Uppal, another syrup Bromhexine Hydrochloride manufactured by Zenith Drugs, Indore but tested in the Hyderabad laboratory of CDSCO, Heparis Injection (Hyprovan 500 injection) manufactured SAI Parenterals Limited, Jeedimetla, Hyderabad, Poviddone-Iodine Solution that was manufactured by US Pharma Pvt Ltd on Palghar and tested in Hyderabad CDSCO laboratory have tested as Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) drugs.

Another drug Tranexica (Tranexamic Acid), manufactured by SUnvet Healthcare, Himachal, tested as NSQ in the central drug laboratory at Vijayawada. Senior health officials who are familiar with the development said that the local State Drug Control Administrations have already forwarded the details of drug manufacturing companies that are frequently failing in the quality control tests conducted by the central drug regulatory authority.

In the coming weeks, such drug manufacturing companies that are failing to develop quality drugs and those involved in manufacturing spurious medicines will be blacklisted and their details will be provided on the website of the central drug authorities, officials in Hyderabad said.