Several drugs in govt hospitals fail quality tests in random checks

At Delhi government’s Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital in Mongolpuri, the quality of anti-inflammatory drug Regunac and painkiller Diclofenac were found short of standard quality. The quality of Epirin, a drug used to prevent clotting of blood in coronary artery diseases for gynecological problems, also fell below standard in tests.

At Delhi government’s Sri Dada Dev Matri Avam Shishu Chikitsalay in Dadri, a mother and child care hospital, the quality of Wincid Antacid Liquid was found below standard.

At the central medical store under the municipal corporation on Alipur road in Civil Lines, quality of anatacids, including Aluminium HCL and Magnesium HCL, was below prescribed standards. Rohini resident R H Bansal had filed an RTI with the drug control department, seeking details of drugs that did not meet standard quality. He said he had to approach the NHRC after the state drug control authority did not provide the details.

“After NHRC’s intervention, the drug control department provided the details. What’s surprising is that despite problems with the quality of medicines, little or no action has been taken. This shows there is no proper monitoring or penalty for compromise in quality of drugs even in government hospitals,” Bansal said.

At GTB hospital, the manufacturer’s licence was suspended for 30 days and in the MCD dispensary in Chandni Chowk, the manufacturer got a suspension of licence for 20 days. At Sri Dada Dev Matri Avam Shishu Chikitsalay, only a three-day suspension was awarded.
At Sanjay Gandhi Memorial hospital, after the manufacturer challenged the drug inspector’s findings, CDL Kolkata retested the samples and again found them to be “not of standard quality”.

The Delhi drug control authority is still waiting to hear from its Nagpur counterpart in the case. In other cases, including AIIMS, replies are awaited from regulatory authorities in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. In every case, the authorities have told NHRC that “reminders are being issued.”

“With our limited resources, it becomes difficult to follow up every case. Hospitals receive drugs from manufacturers in different states and only state bodies have jurisdiction over manufacturers in their states, so we can only communicate our findings and issue reminders requesting that they take action,” a senior official said.