Punjab Newsline | Solan

As many as 330 drug samples from across India, including 93 manufactured in Himachal Pradesh, have failed to meet prescribed quality standards, according to a drug alert issued by the state laboratory and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

In Himachal Pradesh, samples from 73 companies in Solan, 18 in Sirmaur and two in Una failed quality tests. The affected medicines cover a wide range of treatments, including those for fever, acidity, pain, cough, dry cough, intestinal worms, anaemia, allergies, infections, skin infections, blood pressure, pigmentation, swelling, malaria and thyroid disorders.

The findings have raised concerns over the quality of medicines manufactured in the state's pharmaceutical hubs, particularly the industrial areas of Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh and Kala Amb.

Several pharmaceutical companies in the state have been named in the drug alert. These include Laborate in Paonta Sahib, Espo in Baddi, Horizon in Kala Amb, Azot Life Sciences in Solan, PharmaRoute in Barotiwala, Brit Life Sciences in Sirmaur, Elevate Pharma, Sara Biotech, Set Cure, Neptune, Gonasis and Ultra Drug in the Baddi region.

Other companies whose drug samples failed testing include Swish Garnier in Una, Konis in Subathu, Micro Organic in Kala Amb, Shiva Biotech in Manpura, Unispeed in Katha, Samson in Barotiwala, Actonova, NMG and other pharmaceutical manufacturers operating across the state's industrial belt.

The alert also identified quality failures involving medicines manufactured by companies such as Alexa, Copmed, Gosis, Saibosis, Athens Life Sciences and GM Lab. Samples of medicines manufactured by Mark Laboratories, Logos Pharma, Nexpar, Medizia, Hindustan, Trac, Mayaash and other companies were also found not to conform to prescribed standards.

The affected samples included medicines used to treat gastric problems, infections, acidity, allergies, itching and iron deficiency, among other conditions. Several other pharmaceutical manufacturers, including BRD, Curetech, Kalinga, Prosperity Drug, Biogenetic Drug and Kanha Biogenetic Drug, were also named in the alert.

Himachal Pradesh Drug Controller Dr Manish Kapoor said action would be initiated against the pharmaceutical companies whose samples failed quality tests under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

He added that the department would direct the recall of the affected stock from the market and independently test samples of the medicines to verify the findings.