Sentinel Digital Desk
India's drug regulator, CDSCO, has flagged more than 50 drugs, including popular supplements and medications for diabetes and high blood pressure, as "Not of Standard Quality" (NSQ) in its latest drug alert list.
The NSQ alert list is based on random monthly sampling by state drug officers. This time, 53 drugs failed to meet the quality standards, raising concerns about widely-used medications like calcium and vitamin D3 supplements, anti-diabetic pills, and high blood pressure medicines.
Among the flagged drugs are Shelcal (Vitamin C and D3 tablets), Pan-D (antacid), Glimepiride (anti-diabetic), Telmisartan (for high blood pressure), and Paracetamol tablets. These are manufactured by leading companies like Hetero Drugs, Alkem Laboratories, and more.
Metronidazole, commonly used for stomach infections and produced by Hindustan Antibiotic Limited (HAL), failed the quality test. Similarly, Shelcal, distributed by Torrent Pharmaceuticals, was also deemed substandard.
A Kolkata lab identified Alkem's Clavam 625 and Pan D as spurious. Another antibiotic, Cepodem XP 50, prescribed for children with bacterial infections and manufactured by Hetero, was also flagged as substandard.
The drug regulator released two lists: one with 48 drugs and another with 5 more. Pharmaceutical companies have denied responsibility, labeling the flagged drugs as "spurious." Further investigations are ongoing.