Northeast a dumping ground for inferior drugs

TOI/Guwahati: The northeast has become a dumping ground for spurious and substandard drugs with dubious manufacturing companies using the region to spread their business.

The region, as per analysts at the Regional Drug Testing Laboratory, Guwahati, has the highest number of spurious drugs in circulation in the country. Lack of awareness and dearth of qualified pharmacists have contributed to the menace, posing a serious health risk.

Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), in its September list of misbranded drugs, has declared 45 drugs, medical devices and cosmetics as substandard. Close to 20 such items were manufactured in Assam alone while others being produced in Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu, Goa, Punjab and Uttarakhand.