Over 50 Drugs, Including Supplements and Diabetes Medications, Fail Quality Tests by India’s Drug Regulator

In a recent quality assessment, the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) flagged 53 drugs as "Not of Standard Quality" (NSQ) in its latest monthly drug alert. These include widely used medications like calcium and vitamin D3 supplements, anti-diabetic pills, and high blood pressure treatments.

Among the products that failed quality checks are popular drugs such as Shelcal (calcium and vitamin D3), Paracetamol tablets, anti-diabetic drug Glimepiride, and blood pressure medicine Telmisartan. The report also highlights issues with products from well-known manufacturers like Hetero Drugs, Alkem Laboratories, and Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL).

Metronidazole, a drug commonly used to treat stomach infections, produced by Hindustan Antibiotics Limited, also failed the quality tests. Additionally, Alkem's widely used antibiotics Clavam 625 and Pan D were found to be spurious by a Kolkata-based drug testing lab.

Some pharmaceutical companies responded to the CDSCO report, stating that certain flagged drugs were spurious and not manufactured by them. Investigations into these claims are ongoing.

This alert follows the CDSCO’s recent ban on over 150 fixed-dose drug combinations in August, which included several common medications like painkillers and fever treatments.