The government on Tuesday cancelled the licenses of 18 pharma companies for manufacturing of spurious medicines following the inspection by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on 76 companies across 20 States, official sources informed.
Apart from this, action on 70 companies has been taken in Himachal Pradesh, 45 in Uttarakhand and 23 in Madhya Pradesh, sources said.
They further mentioned that a huge crackdown is still underway on several pharma companies across the country related to the manufacturing of spurious medicines.
"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 and the product permission of three firms have been also cancelled," the source said.
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), sources said.
More such inspections will follow in the coming days, they said.
Recently, questions have been raised over the quality of drugs manufactured by India-based companies. In February, the Tamil Nadu-based Global Pharma Healthcare recalled its entire lot of eye drop allegedly linked to vision loss in the US.
Before that, India-made cough syrups were allegedly linked to children deaths in the Gambia and Uzbekistan last year.
(With inputs from PTI)
ALSO READ | Opposition parties likely to bring no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla: Report
Latest India News
