Pan-D, Paracetamol, vitamin tablets Shelcal among 53 top-selling drugs fail quality test by Indian regulator

The Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has flagged over 50 commonly used drugs, including paracetamol, Pan-D, and calcium supplements, as “now not of usual quality” (NSQ) in its most up to date monthly report. The alert follows random sampling conducted by state drug officers, which is a routine process geared toward making certain drug quality. The drugs found to have failed quality tests include renowned medications equivalent to Paracetamol IP five hundred mg, Pan-D (an antiacid), Vitamin B complex and Vitamin C softgels, Shelcal (Vitamin C and D3), the anti-diabetic drug Glimepiride, and the blood pressure medication Telmisartan.

The substandard drugs were manufactured by several prominent pharmaceutical companies, including Alkem Laboratories, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), Hetero Drugs, Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Pure & Cure Healthcare, and Meg Lifesciences. The presence of those medications on the NSQ list requires caution and to boot regulatory scrutiny to verify that patient safety.

An awful lot of the medicine listed as failing quality checks is Metronidazole, widely used to treat stomach infections, which became produced by the public sector unit Hindustan Antibiotic Limited (HAL). Shelcal, a well-liked calcium supplement manufactured by Pure & Cure Healthcare and distributed by Torrent Pharmaceuticals, also failed to fulfill the specified standards.

Notably, a drug-testing laboratory in Kolkata declared Alkem Health Science’s antibiotics Clavam 625 and Pan D as “spurious.” Additionally, Cepodem XP 50 Dry Suspension, a medication prescribed for young individuals with severe bacterial infections, produced by Hyderabad-based Hetero, became identified as substandard by the identical lab. Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd’s Paracetamol tablets were also flagged for quality issues.