Licences of as many as 18 pharma corporations have been cancelled for production spurious drugs after an inspection with the aid of using the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The circulate comes after the drug regulator performed inspection on 76 corporations in 20 states. The name of the companies are not yet known. "Licences of 18 pharma companies have been cancelled for manufacturing spurious and adulterated drugs and for violating GMP (good manufacturing practice).... Besides, 26 firms have been given show-cause notices," an official source said.
The sources said that as part of the special drive, the regulators have identified 203 firms. A majority of the companies are from Himachal Pradesh (70), followed by Uttarakhand (45) and Madhya Pradesh (23). Recently, questions have been raised about the quality of medicines manufactured by Indian companies. In February, Tamil Nadu-based Global Pharma Healthcare recalled all eye drops allegedly linked to vision loss in the United States. Before that, Indian cough medicines were allegedly linked to the deaths of children in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year.