Over 2,000 Drug Samples Not Of Standard Quality, 422 Spurious; Rajya Sabha Informed

New Delhi: The Centre tested nearly 90,000 drug samples in 2022-23, of which 2,921 samples were declared not of standard quality, while 422 were found to be of spurious quality, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Health, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said 642 prosecutions were launched for the manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs, while 262 people were arrested.

Sharing data for 2021-22, she said 88,844 drug samples were tested, of which 2,545 were declared of not standard quality, while 379 samples were found to be spurious/adulterated, The New Indian Express reported. The minister said 592 prosecutions were launched for the manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs in the country, while 450 people were arrested.

In 2020-21, 84,874 drug samples were tested, of which 2,652 were found to be not of standard quality, while 263 were declared adulterated/spurious. While 236 prosecutions were launched for the manufacturing sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs, 164 people were arrested.

Pawar said to assess the regulatory compliance of drug manufacturing premises in the country, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) along with State Drugs Controllers (SDCs) have conducted risk-based inspections of 261 premises.

The firms have been identified based on risk criteria like some drugs declared as Not of Standard Quality, complaints, criticality of the products etc.

The minister said that based on findings of inspections, more than 200 actions like issuance of show cause notices, stop production orders, suspension, cancellation of licenses /product licenses etc., have been taken by the State Licensing Authorities as per the provisions of the Drugs Rules 1945.