Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has revealed a surge in counterfeit and substandard drugs in the state, sparking serious concerns over patient safety.
According to a written reply submitted by the Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling in the Odisha Legislative Assembly, 168 counterfeit and 388 substandard medicines were detected across the state in the last four years. The seizure of counterfeit medicines worth over Rs 2.5 crore between 2021 and 2024–25 also highlighted the scale of illegal pharmaceutical operations flourishing in the open market.
The Health Minister indicates that 79 fake medicines were detected in 2021, 64 in 2022, 14 in 2023, and 11 in 2024, along with hundreds of low-quality drugs failing standard testing parameters.
Experts warn that such adulterated or falsely labelled medicines pose severe risks, including treatment failure, drug resistance, and life-threatening complications.
