‘Seizures & Epilepsy’ Drug Being Used In Delhi Hospitals Fails Standard Quality Test

New Delhi: A medicine used for treating seizures and epilepsy turning out to be spurious in Delhi government hospitals has been found to be spurious, Raj Niwas officials reported on Wednesday, according to PTI.

An anti-epilepsy drug called ’Sodium Valproate’ was found to be falling short of the standards. According to officials, a sample of the drug taken from Delhi government hospitals was failed by the RDTL, or Regional Drug Testing Laboratory, in Chandigarh.

This comes days after Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena referred a matter pertaining to drugs failing quality standard tests to CBI. Saxena had last week recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged supply of drugs that “failed quality standard tests” and have the “potential of endangering lives.”

The report was issued by a government analyst on December 22, an official was quoted as saying.

The drugs that have been found to be of “sub-standard quality” included Cephalexin, a critical life-saving antibiotic used for the treatment of lung and urinary tract infections, according to officials.

They also included Dexamethasone, a steroid used for curing life-threatening inflammation in lungs, joints, and swelling in the body, anti-epilepsy and anti-anxiety psychiatric drug Levetiracetam, and anti-hypertension drug Amlodipine.