40 samples found not of standard quality by Central Drugs Laboratories

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI): The Central Drugs Laboratories has found 40 drug samples manufactured by various firms to be “not of standard quality (NSQ)” in its monthly drug alert for July, health ministry officials said on Friday.
Further, the State Drugs Testing Laboratories have identified 240 drug samples as NSQ, they said.
According to routine regulatory surveillance activity, the list of NSQ and spurious drugs is being displayed on the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) portal on a monthly basis.
“For the month of August 2026, Central Drugs Laboratories have identified 40 drug samples to be Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) and State Drugs Testing Laboratories have identified 240 drug samples as NSQ,” a health ministry statement said.
Identification of drug samples as NSQ is based on failure of the drug sample in one or 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 on the other drug products available in the market, it said.
Further, one drug sample from Bihar, which was manufactured by unauthorised manufacturers using a brand name owned by another company, has been identified as a spurious drug.
The matter is under investigation and action will be taken according to the Act and Rules.
This action of identifying Not of Standard Quality and spurious medicines is taken on a regular basis in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market.