Kullu: In an alert issued for the month of March, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has declared a total of 141 drugs to be of substandard quality. Out of these, 47 (33.3%) were manufactured in Himachal Pradesh.
The drugs flagged by the central lab are used for treating various conditions like high blood pressure, chest pain, bacterial infections of the lungs, nausea, ulcers, chronic pain caused by damaged nerves, allergy, swelling and inflammation. The drugs also included syrups for dry and wet coughs.
These were manufactured in Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh in Solan district, Paonta Sahib and Kala Amb in Sirmaur, and in Mehatpur and Haroli in Una district of the state.
According to the state drugs control administration officials, notices would be issued to all manufacturers whose drug samples failed.
As many as 71 samples of drugs manufactured in Himachal Pradesh were found to be of ‘not standard quality’ in a drug alert issued by the CDSCO for the month of January.
Himachal Pradesh is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the country, with 64 pharmaceutical manufacturers, 177 cosmetics units and 29 companies that produce medical devices. The state accounts for around 35% of the total drug production of the country annually.
