CHENNAI: Nearly three percent of the drugs tested by the state drugs control directorate were ‘not of standard quality’ in 2018-19, but officials said the annual conviction rate against manufacturers has been more than 90% in the last three years.
According to data released by the Union health ministry in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the state has tested 10,750 samples – the maximum number of samples in the country. Out of these, 304 samples were found ‘not of standard quality’ and nine were spurious.
Although the figures for prosecution and the number of people arrested were not updated in the Centre’s report, the state directorate said it had filed cases against 96 drug manufacturers. States like UP had arrested more than 100 people. “Some manufacturers were asked to withdraw the product because of minor faults on label or broken pill. Every year, we file nearly 100 cases against manufacturers and more than 300 cases against dealers and pharmacists,” said state drug controller K Sivabalan.
“We have filed cases for selling drugs without prescriptions or bills, for poor maintenance of drug registers and lack of qualified chemists,” he added. The state fought all cases under the Drugs Act.
