CDSCO flags 112 drug samples as ‘not of standard quality’ in September

While 52 drug samples were identified by the Central Drugs Laboratories as NSQ, the State Drugs Testing Laboratories identified 60 drug samples as NSQ.

As per routine regulatory surveillance activity, the list of NSQ and spurious drugs is being displayed on the CDSCO portal on a monthly basis.

“For the month of September 2025, Central Drugs Laboratories have identified 52 drug samples to be Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) and State Drugs Testing Laboratories have identified 60 drug samples as Not of Standard Quality (NSQ),” the alert said.

Identification of drug samples as NSQ is done 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, the health officials said.

Further, in September, “one drug sample from Chattisgarh was identified as a spurious drug. It was manufactured by an unauthorised manufacturer using a brand name owned by another company. The matter is under investigation and action will be taken as per the Act & Rules,” they added.

The action of identifying NSQ and Spurious medicines is taken regularly in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market.

The CDSCO declared 94 drug samples tested by the Central and state drugs regulatory authorities in the month of August as NSQ.

In August, the Central Drugs Laboratories identified 32 drug samples to be NSQ, while the State Drugs Testing Laboratories identified 62 drug samples as NSQ.