More than 50 medicines including paracetamol have been found to fail. These tests were conducted by India’s drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organization i.e. CDSCO. CDSCO has recently released a monthly report. In this, 53 medicines including paracetamol, Pan D and calcium supplements have been declared not to be of standard quality. This has raised concerns about the safety of their use.
In its August 2024 report, the central drug regulator has placed paracetamol, vitamin D and calcium supplements, high blood pressure medicines and some anti-diabetes tablets in the NSQ alert category of not conforming to standard quality.
The medicines that failed the quality check include Vitamin C and D3 Tablets, Shelcal, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C Softgel, Anti-Acid Pan-D, Paracetamol Tablet (IP 500 mg), Anti-Diabetic Drug Glimepiride and High Blood Pressure Drug Telmisartan.
These products were manufactured by several companies, including Hetero Drugs, Alkem Laboratories, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited i.e. HAL, Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Limited, Pure & Cure Healthcare and Meg Lifesciences, among others.
Metronidazole, a commonly used drug for stomach infection, which is manufactured by HAL, also failed the quality test. Similarly, Shelcal, a popular calcium and vitamin D3 supplement, has also been put in the NSQ alert category.
According to a report by HT, a drug testing laboratory in Kolkata found antibiotics like Clavam 625 and Pan D to be fake.
“Cepodem XP 50 Dry Suspension, a common infection drug used for children, was also tested in the same laboratory and was found to have failed the quality test by the CDSCO.”
The central drug regulator released two lists. One of these includes 48 drugs that failed the quality test and the other includes 5 drugs.
The response from the drugmaker of Pulmosil said, “The original manufacturer (as per label claim) has stated that the suspected batch of the product is not manufactured by them and is a counterfeit drug. The product has been claimed to be counterfeit. However, investigations are ongoing.”
In August this year, the CDSCO had banned over 156 fixed dose drug combinations across the country due to potential risk to humans. The drugs banned included popular fever medicines, painkillers and allergy tablets, such as Cheston Cold and Foracet, commonly used for relieving cold, fever and pain. Since 2014, the regulator has banned 499 FDCs.
