The Indian drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has flagged a wide range of medicines from eye ointments used to treat conjunctivitis to tablets prescribed for anxiety - a total of 70 batches - Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) in March 2025 during routine testing.
Hypertension drug Telma 40 to prevent heart attacks and strokes failed to fails to meet the standards outlined in the Indian Pharmacopoeia (I.P.) and suspected to be spurious medication.
Last month Telma H prescribed for patients with high blood pressure and fluid retention from the same drug manufacturer had failed CDSCO quality tests.
The Telma brand manufactured and marketed by marketed by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals denied making the impugned batch and alleged spurious drugs were being sold by counterfeiters.
While another drug Telma AM used to improve blood circulation without affecting kidney function failed to meet the required pharmacopoeial in January 2025.
The CDSCO, Central laboratories, state and UT drug regulators and state laboratories tested 131 drug samples in March that failed to meet the quality standards or specifications known as NSQ drugs. While Central Drugs Laboratories identified 70 drug samples to be NSQ, State Drugs Testing Laboratories identified 61 drugs samples as NSQs.
The drug formulations listed by the CDSCO and the Central Laboratories that failed tests include eight drug samples from Gidsha Pharmaceuticals, Gujarat, four samples each from Affy Parenterals and Martin and Brown Bio-sciences, Himachal Pradesh, three samples from Zee Laboratories, Himachal Pradesh, and two samples from public sector undertaking Hindustan Antibiotics.
Among the flagged products were Chloramphenirol Eye Ointment, typically used for treating bacterial eye infections, which failed the assay test for active ingredient and Alprazolam tablets, a commonly prescribed anti-anxiety medication was found substandard due to dissolution failure, raising red flags about their therapeutic effectiveness.
