Two medicines fail quality tests at Ghaziabad govt hospital, stock recalled from healthcare centres

Of the two medicines, one is for blood pressure while the other is used to treat for vomiting symptoms, officials said

Health authorities in Ghaziabad have recalled the stock of two medicines from government healthcare centres after tests showed they are “not of standard quality”.

Samples of the two drugs were taken from Sanjay Nagar hospital by officials of the central drugs standard control organisation (CDSCO-North zone). (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Of the two medicines, one is for blood pressure while the other is used to treat for vomiting symptoms, officials said. The two medicines are manufactured by firms in Noida and Faridabad and the stock comes to the government’s drug warehouse in Ghaziabad, from where they are supplied to district hospitals and other government healthcare facilities.

“The provision of the two medicines to patients has also been stopped and the stock is being sent back. We are now using alternate medicines for our patients,” said Vinod Pandey, chief medical superintendent (CMS) of Sanjay Nagar combined district hospital.

Officials said samples of the two drugs were taken from Sanjay Nagar hospital by officials of the central drugs standard control organisation (CDSCO-North zone). One drug was tested on October 28 and the other on November 9 after samples were picked up. The samples were tested at the regional drug testing laboratory in Chandigarh.

The CMS of Sanjay Nagar hospital informed the chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar, of the results, who in turn informed the state officials in his letter issued on December 6.

“We stock at least 280 different medicines at our warehouse and the entire stock of the two drugs, which were found to be of substandard quality, has been recalled from district hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Medicines are regularly sampled and tested,” said Hukum Singh Rana, chief pharmacist of the government’s drug warehouse in Ghaziabad.

District health officials said a similar case about a medicine used to treat flatulence had come up at community health centre at Muradnagar in Ghaziabad.