Counterfeit drugs: threat to India's self-reliant model

India's famous Institute of Mental Health and Hospital in Agra is turning out to be a hotbed of pharmaceutical opioids and counterfeit drugs.

While the issue of substandard drugs is not new in India, its wider impact was highlighted with last year's recall of 632 medicines from local generic stores (Jan Aushadhi kendras) in Karnataka after they failed a drug quality standard test, and the recall of 106 batches of 52 drugs in the last four years by the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India.

Early this month, the Uttar Pradesh police cracked down on various gangs pushing pharmaceutical opioids and counterfeit drugs. Since there is a lot of consumption of sleeping medicines, antidepressants and painkillers in the region, the drug mafia has allegedly been creating a proxy demand for these drugs in the guise of providing these medications.

A report related to the trade of illicit drugs in Agra notes the actual sale of pain and sleeping medicines is worth $33,286 per day. Recently, substandard opioid pain medication tramadol and codeine syrup worth about $66,572 was seized. Police personnel state the demand is very high for other drugs and painkillers like Spasco Proxyvan, nitrazepam, alprazolam, clonazepam and phensedyl.

Last February, a crackdown by the Karnataka government had unearthed several substandard batches of generic medicines being sold at Jan Aushadi Kendras. These include common medicines like telmisartan and ramipril used to treat high blood pressure, nimesulide, a pain medication with fever-reducing properties, and even calamine lotion, used to treat mild itchiness.

Though domestically-produced generics have often come under the scanner for failing quality tests, pain-relieving medicine tramadol and sleeping tablet alprazolam are being used by drug peddlers and illicit substandard consignments have found their way across the state.

India has been battling the challenge of substandard drugs for a while. The Ministry of commerce and industry, Drug Controller and law enforcement agencies have come together to fight the menace of counterfeit drugs.

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