Mumbai: Nearly 5% of medicines sold at city’s pharmacies have been found to be of sub-standard by the Food And Drug Administration (FDA). A case has also been registered against drug manufacturers for selling substandard medicines, which can adversely affect citizens’ health.
As per FDA data, 2,530 medicines samples were collected from April to October across Mumbai, of which 124 were found to be sub-standard. “Every month, samples of seven medicines are taken from drug stores and sent to laboratory testing. Of these, about 2,000 samples of allopathy, 415 of ayurveda and homeopathy medicines were taken,” said an FDA official.
During the financial year 2019-20 (660 out of 8378 samples), 2020-21 (464 out of 7632), 2021-22 (364 out of 5146) and 2022-23 (468 out of 12790) found sub-standard.
FDA Drug Joint Commissioner Bhushan Patil said they continuously collect and test random samples at their labs in Mumbai, Nagpur and Sambhajinagar. “A case is registered in the court against pharmaceutical companies that fail to meet the quality standards, following which their manufacturing license is suspended or cancelled,” he said.
