Samples of five widely used drugs from pharmacies in Delhi (4) and Ranchi, Jharkhand (1) were found to be spurious during inspections by regulatory authorities in April.
An alert issued by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) highlighted these findings. CDSCO regularly compiles data on spurious drugs from states and Union Territories each month.
In April, the CDSCO reported that the spurious drugs in Delhi included:
– Instgra tablets (used in HIV treatment)
– Telmisartan 40 mg and Amlodipine 5 mg tablets (blood pressure medication)
– Domperidone and Naproxen Sodium tablets (migraine treatment)
– Rifaximin (antibiotic)
In Jharkhand, a sample of Cefixime Trihydrate with Lactic Acid Bacillus (another antibiotic) was declared spurious based on physical comparison and analytical tests by the manufacturer and state licensing authorities.
State drug licensing authorities in Mizoram, Tripura, and Pondicherry reported no spurious drugs in their jurisdictions. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh failed to submit data in the prescribed format.
Several states and territories, including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra Nagar & Haveli, Daman & Diu, and Lakshadweep, did not submit any data regarding spurious drugs for April, according to the CDSCO.
