3.19 Lakh Drugs Tested, 9,145 Found Not Standard, 951 Identified Adulterated In Last 3 Years: Centre
New Delhi: The Union Government on Friday, December, suggested that it tested a total of 319186 drug samples since 2022 to prevent the menace of the sales and availability and use of banned and counterfeit medicines on the market.
The Minister of Health and Family Welfare, in a statement, said out of the 319186 drug samples tested, the department found 9145 samples not standard quality, while another 951 were declared spurious and adulterated.
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The health minister was replying to a question by Congress MP K Gopinath on the availability of banned drugs in India. The legislator had asked the department if it is aware of the large-scale use of counterfeit and banned medicines and its adverse effects on people’s health in the country, while seeking the details on the government’s intervention to prevent the hazard.
The health minister, in his reply to the Sabha, stated that the manufacture of Spurious, Adulterated, Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) drugs is a
Punishable offense under the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, noting that the Act empowers the concerned licensing authorities to take necessary legal action in such cases, including cases of manufacture, sale, and distribution of any prohibited or banned drug.
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The government pointed out that there were isolated complaints regarding such drugs and when such complaints were received, they were investigated along with the concerned licensing authorities for taking action.
The ministry also presented a table with data from 2022 to 2025, detailing the number of drug samples tested and identified as not standard quality or adulterated in each year.
