Paracetamol, Antacid Pan D Among Over 50 Drugs Flagged for Quality Issues by CDSCO

New Delhi: Over 50 drugs, including supplements and medicines for diabetes and high blood pressure, have failed quality tests by the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO). In its latest drug alert, the CDSCO listed 53 drugs as “Not of Standard Quality (NSQ).”

The alert stems from routine random sampling by state drug officers. Among the flagged drugs are popular vitamin supplements such as Shelcal (Vitamin C and D3), vitamin B complex and vitamin C softgels, anti-acid Pan-D, Paracetamol tablets IP 500 mg, anti-diabetic drug Glimepiride, and high blood pressure medication Telmisartan.

Manufacturers of these substandard drugs include major pharmaceutical companies like Hetero Drugs, Alkem Laboratories, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Meg Lifesciences and Pure & Cure Healthcare.

Metronidazole, a drug commonly used to treat stomach infections and produced by Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), also failed to meet quality standards. Additionally, Shelcal, distributed by Torrent Pharmaceuticals and manufactured by Pure & Cure Healthcare in Uttarakhand, failed to pass the tests.

Further scrutiny by a Kolkata-based drug-testing lab labelled antibiotics like Alkem Health Science’s Clavam 625 and Pan D as spurious. The same lab also found Cepodem XP 50 Dry Suspension, a paediatric medicine produced by Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs, to be substandard. Paracetamol tablets from Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd were also flagged for poor quality.

The CDSCO released two lists of substandard drugs, with one naming 48 commonly used medications and the second featuring an additional five drugs. Pharmaceutical companies have denied responsibility, claiming these drugs are “spurious” and not manufactured by them as per the label.

In a similar development last month, CDSCO banned over 156 fixed-dose drug combinations in India, citing potential risks to human health. These included widely used fever, pain, and allergy medications.