84 Medicines for Gas, Cholesterol and Diabetes Stumble in Testing

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Drug control officials across the country have released shocking reports following recent testing. Around 84 medicines, including commonly prescribed steroids and cholesterol-lowering drugs, were found to fall below standard quality levels. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), the agency responsible for testing new drugs and medicines, has issued an alert regarding these findings. CDSCO regularly issues such alerts, highlighting non-standard quality medicines in the market, and their latest data from December 2024 revealed 84 batches of medicines manufactured by various companies were of substandard quality. These included drugs for common conditions like acidity, high cholesterol, diabetes, and bacterial infections.

Drug samples are identified as non-standard quality (NSQ) based on their failure to meet specified quality parameters. The testing of these samples is specific to the batches tested by the government. Officials stated that the identification and removal of NSQ and counterfeit drugs is an ongoing effort, done in collaboration with state regulators.

To enhance testing procedures, CDSCO recently introduced new guidelines requiring drug inspectors to collect at least 10 samples per month. The guidelines also mandate that samples be sent to laboratories on the same day they are collected. For remote or rural locations, samples should be dispatched to the lab by the following day at the latest.