Central drugs labs find 32 samples to be 'not of standard quality' in August

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) The central drugs laboratories have found 32 samples manufactured by various firms in August to be "not of standard quality", health ministry officials said on Friday.

Additionally, the state drugs testing laboratories identified 62 samples as “not of standard quality” (NSQ) in the month under review, they said.

As part of routine regulatory surveillance activity, the list of NSQ and spurious drugs are displayed on the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) portal on a monthly basis.

For August, the central drugs laboratories identified 32 samples to be NSQ, while the state drugs testing laboratories identified 62 samples under the same category, an official said.

Identification of drug samples as NSQ is done based on their failure in one or the other specified quality parameters.

The failure is specific to the drug products of the batch tested by the government laboratory, and it does not warrant any concerns on the other drug products available in the market, the officials said.

In August, three drug samples from Bihar were identified as spurious, which were manufactured by an unauthorised manufacturer using a brand name owned by another company.

The matter is under investigation and action will be taken as per the rules, the officials said.

The action of identifying NSQ and spurious medicines is taken on a regular basis in collaboration with the state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market. PTI PLB ARI