22 made-in-Himachal drug samples fail quality test

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has once again exposed a grave lapse in pharmaceutical quality control. As many as 22 medicines manufactured in Himachal have failed to meet established quality standards.

The central drug control organisation had drawn samples from across the country in May. It found that 52 samples did not meet the standards, of which 22 were manufactured in Himachal. The state drug controlling authorities have asked the erring industries to call back the stocks of failed samples from the market.

The state drug controller has taken immediate action and issued notices to all the erring pharmaceutical companies involved in the drug alert and has issued instructions to immediately recall the entire batch of the concerned drug from the market.

“We have received an alert from CODSCO on the samples that failed. From time to time our drug inspectors keep drawing samples of medicines and further action is taken against the erring pharmaceutical companies under the Cosmetic and Drug Act,” said state drug controller Manish Kapoor.

“One of every third drug produced in the country is manufactured in Himachal. The quality of the drugs cannot be compromised,” said Kapoor.

Of the 22 samples that failed the quality test, one was manufactured in the pharmaceutical unit in Una, five from Sirmaur, and 16 were manufactured in different pharmaceutical units in Baddi -Barotiwala, Nalagarh industrial area, which is one of the biggest pharma hubs in the country.

Assistant drug controllers have been asked to conduct a joint inspection of all the pharmaceutical industries. Orders have been given to submit a detailed investigation report.

The failed samples of medicines manufactured in Himachal include medicines related to throat infection, high blood pressure, cancer, pain, bacterial infection, ulcer, cough, allergy, virus infection, acidity, painkiller, itching, and fever. Of these, many medicines were found without a label and a few of them were found to be fake

Apart from this, during the investigation, 30 medicines manufactured in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Chennai were also found to be substandard.

This is not the first time that samples of drugs manufactured in Himachal Pradesh failed. Last year 14 samples from Himachal failed to meet the CODSCO standards

The drugs that failed to meet the quality standards include ondansetron and doxorubicin hydrochloride used to treat cancer, including Cefixime, Azithromycin tablets, Paracetamol, Albendazole, Spironolactone tablets, Fenofibrate capsules, Doxylamine Succinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride and Folic Acid tablets and Cipro Loxacin tablets. Injections are also included. As many as 13 people involved in the manufacturing of fake medicines were arrested last year and strict action has been taken to stop this menace in the state.