In a bid to curb the sale of fake medicines in India and abroad, the government has taken a major step by cancelling the licences of 18 pharma companies. According to a report by NDTV, the government has asked all 18 listed pharma companies to stop manufacturing medicines. The report also states that show cause notices have been issued to 26 other pharma companies.
The crackdown is part of the government’s efforts to curb the menace of spurious medicines. The Drugs Controller General of India had conducted an inspection of 76 pharmaceutical companies across 20 states in the country. The campaign has been on for about 15 days now.
The raids come after reports of deaths and illnesses caused by Indian drugs in several nations. The report cites the instance of Gujarat-based pharma company Zydus Lifesciences, where over 55,000 bottles of a generic medication used to treat gout from the US market were recovered, while the medicine had failed impurities specifications.
Additionally, in Noida, three employees of a pharmaceutical firm were arrested after their cough syrup allegedly led to the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan last year. The firm was accused of manufacturing and selling adulterated drugs.
The Central and Uttar Pradesh drug authorities had checked samples of Marion Biotech products and found 22 of them “not of standard quality”. A Chennai-based pharmaceutical company had to suspend production of a line of eye drops after US health authorities said they could be contaminated with a drug-resistant bacteria that has been linked to reports of permanent vision loss and one death in February.
The cancellation of licences of these pharma companies is a significant step towards curbing the sale of fake medicines. The government’s efforts to ensure the quality and efficacy of drugs will go a long way in improving the healthcare system of the country.