With sterner measures in place to check production and supply of spurious drugs, the instances of sub-standard drugs being sold in the market have come down during the last year, according to the statistics collected by the Health Ministry.

“As per the countrywide survey conducted by the Government in 2009 to assess the extent of spurious drugs in the country, out of 24,136 samples collected for analysis, only 0.046 per cent samples were found spurious. Further, as per the available information received from state drug controllers, the drug samples tested all over the country in four years 2007-2008 to 2010-2011 reveal that only about 0.25 per cent of around 43,000 samples per annum have been found to be spurious/adulterated,” sources said.

During the year 2010-11, the official machinery took 49682 samples through random checks in the chemist shops across the country and 2372 samples were declared not of standard quality. The number of spurious or adulterated drugs stood at 95 while prosecutions were launched against 167 persons in this regard. The officials conducted 1295 raids throughout the country.

During 2009-10, the total number of drugs of substandard quality was 1942 and the total number of spurious or adulterated drugs was 117, out of the total 39248 samples collected. As many as 147 persons were arrested and a total of 2513 raids were mounted on the medical shops.

Likewise, the quantum of fake drugs during the period of 2008-09 was also higher. Out of 45145 total samples collected, as many as 2597 were declared as not of standard quality while 157 samples were found to be either spurious or adulterated in the tests. The officials held 2836 raids and arrested 133 persons during the period, according to the statistics collected.

Responding to recent report in the media that sub-standard drugs worth Rs.5,000 crores are flooding the Indian market creating threat to human lives, an official of the ministry said “the media had been projecting the problem of spurious or sub-standard drugs in the country in a manner which does not provide a balanced perspective.”

The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (D&C Act) has been amended under Drugs & Cosmetics (Amendment) Act 2008 and it has come into force since 10th Aug, 2009. Under this Act, stringent penalties for manufacture of spurious and adulterated drugs have been provided. Certain offences have been made cognizable and non-bailable. Guidelines for taking action on samples of drugs declared spurious or not of standard quality in the light of enhanced penalties under the D&C Act have been forwarded to the state drugs controllers for implementation, he said.