Sep 20 : Central government is planning to scan as much as 3,00,000 drugs in the next three months as government has found several complaint against substandard and spurious drugs in India. Government is also planning to pass an amendment to prohibit such heinous crime, which is killing several innocent people.
The Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has announced that the government would take a major step to study the substandard and spurious drug in India.
He said that there is a plan to test 300,000 drugs in next three months, the drug which will go for the scan are being used to treat cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
The Health Minister said that this study which will cost around Rs. 5 crore and will help to put an end to this fake industries which is growing its tentacle and damaging the reputation of India’s pharmaceutical industries.
Drugs are life saving …any alteration may lead to the death of a person, but there have been reports of this unethical practice in India and World. This tells about the presence of large plexus of this practice in the country. India is losing its reputation in the world market because of such industries. If it goes unchecked then will loss its market as well as many innocent who comes to buy those drugs with hope to save theirs’ life.
The Lancet published an article citing World Health Organisation statistics, which said that 35% of drugs made in India were ‘nothing better then the talcum powder’ and a fifth of it contained harmful chemicals.
This report created a stir in media, and uneasiness to the government. However, WHO denied the statistics.
But the result of the test of samples of 40,000 drugs from state laboratories to the expert committee headed by R.A. Mashelkar, former Director General of CSIR told a different story, which showed that less than 10% of the drugs in the market were substandard and less than 1% spurious.
Ramadoss also stressed on regulatory mechanism to combat this problem at both Central and State level. The government has prepared a bill to create an independent Central Drugs Authority of India that has been placed before standing committee that will make its recommendation in three month.
The government has already taken the step to mordernise the testing laboratories, and giving training to the staff and drugs inspectors. This is funded by World Bank for regulating such menace in food and drug industry.
But the main problem is that having CDAi will help combat the substandard drugs but not the spurious drugs, which are deliberately done and may have harmful substance.
An amendment was proposed that include increase in fines for manufacturing and sale of Rs 1 lakh to 10 Lakh, prison sentence is increased from 5 years to life imprisonment also fast track court for speedy trials of such cases.
There are many drugs listed as substandard and spurious but are still sold and bought in the market.
According to data retrieved from ‘DrugsControl.org’ many of the drugs, which are being used every now and then are found to be substandard. Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Chloremphenical, Gentamicin, Norflaxacin, Cefixime for Oral Suspension, Tinidazol, Nimesullide, Glibenclamide Tab IP, Aptozyme Syrup, Cloxacillin Sodium Capsule, Medivik Infusion Set, Neurobex-Z, Ofloriv OZ Tablet, Ampicillin for oral Suspension, Vizyplex Capsule, and Rubiclox-250 Injection and many more (the list is very long), manufactured by various companies were substandard.
Many campaigns have been led to sensitise the government on this burning issue.
But still big markets of substandard and spurious drug are flourishing and it’s really painful to see those who roam freely by murdering millions of innocent people with such drugs.
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