CDSCO labs flag 167 drug samples as 'not of standard quality' in December

by IANS |

New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Wednesday declared 167 drug samples tested by the Central and state drugs regulatory authorities as ‘not of standard quality (NSQ)' in its monthly drug alert for December.

While the Central Drugs Laboratories identified 74 drug samples as NSQ, the State Drugs Testing Laboratories identified 93 drug samples as NSQ.

As per routine regulatory surveillance activity, the list of NSQ and spurious drugs is being displayed on the CDSCO portal on a monthly basis.

“For the month of December 2025, Central Drugs Laboratories have identified 74 Drug Samples to be Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) and State Drugs Testing Laboratories have identified 93 Drug Samples as Not of Standard Quality (NSQ),” the alert said.

Identification of drug samples as NSQ is done based on failure of the drug sample in one or more of the other specified quality parameters.

The failure is specific to the drug products of the batch tested by the government laboratory, and it does not warrant any concerns about the other drug products available in the market.

Further, in December, “four drug samples from North Zone, Ghaziabad, one drug sample from FDA Ahmedabad, one drug sample from Bihar, and one drug sample from Maharashtra were identified as spurious drugs,” the alert said.

“These drugs were manufactured by unauthorised manufacturers using brand names owned by other companies,” it added, while noting that the matter is under investigation and action will be taken as per the Act & Rules.

This action of identifying NSQ and spurious medicines is taken regularly in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market, demonstrating an active, strong, and responsive regulatory system in the country.

In December, the CDSCO declared 205 drug samples tested by the Central and state drugs regulatory authorities as ‘Not of Standard Quality (NSQ)'.

While the Central Drugs Laboratories identified 64 drug samples as NSQ, the State Drugs Testing Laboratories identified 141 drug samples as NSQ.