Following an inspection conducted under the supervision of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGA), the government revoked licenses of 18 pharma companies. The decision came after it was revealed that the companies had been manufacturing spurious medicines across 20 states. On Tuesday, a surprise inspection of 76 pharmaceutical companies in 20 states and Union territories was conducted. The raid was carried out by a joint team of the state and central drug regulators.
An official source said, “Licenses of 18 pharma companies have been cancelled for manufacturing spurious and adulterated drugs and for violating GMP (good manufacturing practice). Besides, 26 firms have been given show-cause notices.”
Furthermore, the regulators identified 203 companies as a part of the special drive. Out of these companies, action has been taken in 70 firms from Himachal Pradesh, 45 in Uttarakhand and 23 in Madhya Pradesh. The raids were carried out as a result of concerns about the quality of drugs produced by Indian-based businesses.
Allegations on Indian-manufactured Drugs
Last month, more than 55,000 bottles of a generic gout treatment from the US market were recalled by the Gujarat-based pharmaceutical firm Zydus Lifesciences. The medication had not met the requirements for contaminants. Additionally, in February, Global Pharma Healthcare, headquartered in Tamil Nadu, voluntarily recalled all of its eye drops in the US. This decision came after their eyedrops were allegedly linked to vision loss. Prior to this, three employees of a pharmaceutical company were detained in Noida. It was claimed that their cough medicine caused the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan last year. They were charged with producing and dispensing adulterated medication.
More such allegations have been made about Indian-manufactured drugs.
Meanwhile, the union health ministry is working on regulations for online pharmacies and tougher enforcement of those regulations. This is being done in response to growing concerns about data protection and dishonest business practices. Also, irrational drug sales. There is a possibility that the new regulations will be incorporated in the updated version of New Drugs, Medical Devises and Cosmetics Bills, 2023.
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