Seven drugs of Himachal firms fail quality test

Solan, May 17

Seven drug samples, out of the 40 declared substandard by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and state labs in the drug alert issued today, pertain to pharmaceutical firms of Himachal Pradesh.

These drugs are Cefixime Dispersible tablets, Carvedilol Tablets, Neostigmine Mehtysulphate Injection, XL Dryl-D Capsules, StomcooL DSR capsules, Telmisartan Tablets and Mucoid-A tablets.

The drugs were manufactured by firms based in Baddi, Kala Amb, Mehatpur and Nalagarh and suffered from deficiencies like disintegration, dissolution, lack of assay content — factors that affected their efficacy. Content of active ingredients were also not within the limits of the laid-down norms.

These drugs are used for common ailments like bacterial infections, high blood pressure, dry cough, acidity and congestion.

State Drugs Controller Manish Kapoor said drug batches figuring in the list would be immediately withdrawn. The field staff would look into the reasons for the drugs being declared substandard to ensure that quality was maintained.