Kolkata: As many as 34 drug samples manufactured by various firms were declared as “not of standard quality” by the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) after they underwent quality tests in Kolkata laboratory.
Of them, some were seized from Kolkata—many of which were brought from various states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Central Drug Control Board has published the batch numbers of the drugs which are “not of standard quality” and the list has been shared with all the state governments. Directives have been sent to the chemists and druggists outlets so that these medicines are not sold in the market. Ampicillin tablets also failed in quality tests and the batches came from Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Some of these drugs include Amoxicillin and potassium clavulanate, Antibiotics Trihydrate, Metronidazole tablet, Albekal 400 Tablet. The Calcium Carbonate tablet lacks one of its primary components—calcium—as found in the testing lab.
The CDSCO in July had listed at least 151 drugs as not of standard quality (NSQ). Many of these spurious drugs were found in Bengal, which were originally brought from other states as well. Several medicines which were tested in the Central Drug Control Laboratory in Kolkata were found to be not up to the mark. A list of suspicious medicines were marked as NSQ and the batch numbers were also shared. All the retailers and wholesale chemists and druggists shops were asked not to sell these medicines. That time the medicines included antibiotic drugs, cancer drugs and medicines meant for urinary tract infection.
Interestingly, as many as 3,104 drugs were found to be “not of standard quality” while 245 were found to be spurious out of 1,16,323 drug samples tested between April 2024 and March 2025, the Rajya Sabha was informed earlier this year. Responding to a query, Union Health minister JP Nadda in Parliament had said that 961 prosecutions were launched for manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs during the same period, according to information received from the drugs controllers of various states and Union Territories.