93 medicines used in country are found to be of substandard quality; 11 from Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An examination conducted by the drugs control department in last December found 93 medicines of substandard quality in various drug labs in the country. An information that 11 of these were found in labs in Kerala has emerged. These include tablets, syrups, injectable medicines and drops. All three samples of the same medicine found in Kerala were found to be substandard.

Five samples tested at the regional laboratory in Ernakulam have been confirmed to be of substandard quality. Three each from the labs in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur were found to be substandard. Three batches of sodium chloride nasal drops manufactured by Maya Biotech in Himachal Pradesh failed the test in Ernakulam. Salbutamol syrup for asthma and a tablet containing montelukast sodium and levocetirizine hydrochloride also failed.

In addition, antibiotics, medicines for diabetes, heart problems and stomach diseases are also among the substandard ones. Apart from Kerala, medicines from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal, Tripura, Rajasthan and Pondicherry are also among the substandard ones.

A fake inhaler medicine used by asthma patients was seized in a check conducted by the drugs control department in Keral in last November. Following the seizure of medicine worth about two lakh rupees, action was taken against Aswas Pharma, based in Balaramapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, and Med World Pharma, based in Poonkunnam, Thrissur.

The sale of ten allopathic medicines and seven arishtams that were found to be of substandard quality during the crackdown on counterfeit medicines conducted in December was also banned. The banned ayurvedic medicines are Amritarishtam (batch 0110) of Karunagappally Bala Herbals, Kanakasavam (0114), Ashwagandharishtam (111), Usirasavam (0117), Kodajarishtam (0113), Abhayarishtam (109), and Ashokaarishtam (0220) of Karunagappally Shiva Ayurvedic Pharmaceuticals.