13 drugs manufactured in Himachal fail quality test

SHIMLA:Samples of 13 drugs manufactured by pharmaceutical companies in Himachal Pradesh were declared of substandard quality in a monthly alert issued by the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Wednesday.

Six of these drugs were manufactured in pharmaceutical companies in Baddi, three in Nalagarh in Solan district, two in Sansarpur Terrace of Kangra district and one in Haroli of Una. The drug samples failed the quality test due to lack of assay content, dissolution, uniformity of volume and presence of particulate matter in the injection.

As many as 35 drugs manufactured across the nation have also been declared of sub-standard quality by the CDSCO. Samples of two drugs manufactured in France have also failed the quality test. According to directions issued by CDSCO, all such drug batches are to be withdrawn from the market.

Additional drug controller Manish Kapoor said the authorities have initiated the process to suspend manufacturing of these brands.

The drugs that have failed the test include azithromycin oral suspensions (an antibiotic used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections), ibuprofen tablets (a medication in the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug class that is used for treating pain, fever, and inflammation), moxiflord eye drops, tobotor eye drops, betamethasone dipropionate cream, amoxycillin and potassium clavulanate tablets, cefixime dispersible tablets, luliconazole cream, calcium carbonate tablets, amoxycillin and potassium clavulanate with lactic acid bacillus tablets, metformin hydrochloride sustained release tablets, amikacin sulphate (an antibiotic used for a number of bacterial infections) injection and ramipril (a medication used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure, and diabetic kidney disease)tablets.

SIX OF THESE DRUGS WERE MANUFACTURED IN PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES IN BADDI, THREE IN NALAGARH IN SOLAN DISTRICT, TWO IN SANSARPUR TERRACE OF KANGRA DISTRICT AND ONE IN HAROLI, UNA