The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday flagged select batches of two drugs as spurious and listed 111 other drugs and formulations as not of standard quality (NSQ).
The samples flagged as spurious in CDSCO’s recent monthly update for November 2024 include popular drugs Pan D and the antibiotic Augmentin 625 Duo, which are marketed by Alkem Laboratories and GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, respectively.
While the CDSCO alert has named the brands for which spurious samples were found, it does not name the drug manufacturers.
“The actual manufacturer (as per label claim) has informed that the impugned batch of the product has not been manufactured by them and that it is a spurious drug. The product is purported to be spurious; however, the same is subject to the outcome of the investigation,” the replies state.
“These drugs have been made by unauthorised and unknown manufacturers using brand names owned by other companies. An investigation has been initiated in the matter,” the Union Health Ministry stated in a note.