Shimla: A total of 330 medicine samples collected from across the country, including 93 manufactured in Himachal Pradesh, have failed to meet prescribed quality standards, according to a drug alert issued by the state laboratory and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).
Of the failed samples manufactured in Himachal Pradesh, products from 73 pharmaceutical companies in Solan district, 18 in Sirmaur and two in Una were found to be non-compliant with the required standards. The findings have raised concerns over the quality of medicines manufactured in the state’s pharmaceutical hubs, particularly Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh and Kala-Amb.
The medicines that failed quality tests cover a wide range of therapeutic categories, including those used to treat fever, acidity, pain, cough and dry cough, intestinal worms, anaemia, allergies, infections, skin infections, high blood pressure, skin pigmentation, inflammation, malaria and thyroid disorders.
The drug authorities are expected to initiate action against the companies concerned under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The department will also undertake independent testing of the affected medicines, while stocks of the failed batches will be recalled from the market, as part of the regulatory response.
Several pharmaceutical manufacturers operating in the state’s major industrial areas figured in the list of samples that failed quality tests. The latest findings once again bring the quality of pharmaceutical products under regulatory scrutiny in Himachal Pradesh, a major hub for drug manufacturing.
