Spurious drug alert: Telangana officials warn against fake D-Calcium Pantothenate in market
Drug being falsely claimed to be manufactured by China-based pharma company in Shandong province
Hyderabad: The Telangana State Drug Control Administration (TSDCA) on Wednesday issued a spurious drug alert on ‘D-Calcium Pantothenate’, which is being falsely claimed to be manufactured by a China-based pharma company Xinfa Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, Dongying city of Shandong province.
D-Calcium Pantothenate (batch number 240326M07), which has been circulating in the market, is being manufactured by anti-social elements and poses significant health risks to consumers.
All drug manufacturers, dealers and distributors are directed to stop the utilisation, sale, and distribution of the spurious drug and to immediately notify the TSDCA, if they come across such a drug, the TSDCA in a notice on Wednesday said.
“The drug has been found to be counterfeit/fake and was not actually manufactured by Xinfa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. located in China. The said drug, which is an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), does not bear the importer’s name and the import licence number, both of which are mandatory to be indicated on the label,” the TSDCA said.
Moreover, every API or bulk drug manufactured or imported in India should have a Quick Response (QR) code on its label at each level of packaging, which stores data or information that is readable with an app to facilitate tracking and tracing.
“The spurious drug, D-Calcium Pantothenate IP/BP, Batch No. 240326M07, falsely claimed to be manufactured by Xinfa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., China, does not bear a QR code on the label as required by the drugs rules. All stakeholders are hereby alerted about the above counterfeit drug circulating in the market,” DG, TSDCA, VB Kamalasan Reddy said in the notice.
The DG has urged stakeholders to remain vigilant and report any information regarding the distribution or sale of the counterfeit drug.
To alert TSDCA, call toll-free number 1800-599- 6969, which is operational from 10.30 am to 5 pm on all working days.
