E-Paper
Ramdev's Divya Pharmacy among 16 Indian pharma firms in Nepal's blacklist. Here's why
In a notice issued on December 18, the Department of Drug Administration asked the local agents in Nepal, which have been supplying these medicines, to immediately recall them.
Sixteen Indian pharma companies have been blacklisted by Nepal's drug regulatory authority for their "failure" to comply with the World Health Organization's drug manufacturing standards, media reports claimed on Tuesday.
In a notice issued on December 18, the Department of Drug Administration asked the local agents in Nepal, which have been supplying these medicines, to immediately recall them. The notice also mentions the names of pharma companies blacklisted (both Indian and foreign), and says that medicines manufactured by the listed companies cannot be imported or distributed in Nepal.
Also read | IMA slams Patanjali campaign as breach of medical ethics
Apart from Divya Pharmacy, which manufactures Yoga Guru Ramdev's Patanjali products, the list also includes Radiant Parenterals Ltd, Mercury Laboratories Ltd, Alliance Biotech, Captab Biotec, Aglowmed Ltd, Zee Laboratories, Daffodils Pharmaceuticals, GLS Pharma, Unijules Life Science, Concept Pharmaceuticals, Shree Anand Life Sciences, IPCA laboratories, Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Dial Pharmaceuticals and Mackur laboratories. The list also names a few foreign brands.
According to news agency PTI, the list was published after an inspection of the manufacturing facilities of the pharmaceutical companies that had applied to export their products to Nepal. The department had – in April and July – sent a team of drug inspectors to India to inspect the manufacturing facilities of pharmaceutical companies that had applied to supply their products to Nepal.
Earlier, the WHO issued a medical product alert over four cough syrups — Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup, and Magrip N Cold Syrup — manufactured and exported by India's Maiden Pharma. The four cough syrups were said to be linked to at least 66 deaths of children in The Gambia.
(With PTI, bureau inputs)
