Buying injectable drugsIJ Also, buying medicines from Government storesIJ Think over it again! As a significant proportion of such parenterals (injectable) drugs, in proportion of nearly eight in every 100 such drugs in circulation in market, are Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) and about four medicines in every 100 medicines available in Government stores are found to be NSQ.
In Odisha, on an average, more than four drugs per 100 in circulation in the market are branded as NSQ.
Such a scary scenario in medicines in circulation in Odisha has been brought to fore by a recently-released National Drug Survey (NDS) 2014-2016. The NDS has found NSQ drugs in circulation in the State at around 4.5 per cent from the total samples it collected during the period 2014-2016. In contrast, the NSQ data available with the State Drugs Controller, where the State body checks for NSQ drugs via random sampling, put the NSQ proportion in the State at about 2.8 per cent in 2016-17 and 2.5 per cent each in 2015-16 and 2014-15.
The fact, however, to note is the NSQ proportion found in NDS and State Drugs Controller’s random check reveals a big difference of 2 per cent, which raises many a question at the random checking done by the State drugs unit.
In this context, however, a significant unanimity discernible in both NDS and State Drugs Controller’s random sampling is the proportion of spurious drugs was of the order of below 1 per cent only. Interestingly, in year 2015-16, the State Drugs Controller seized spurious medicines worth over Rs 6.4lakh, which had then propelled Odisha to the top 10 States in the country with the highest spurious drug seizures.
However, the total seizures made in 2016-17 are not available in public domain though the State Drugs Controller claimed that the details would be released shortly.
Moreover, surprisingly, the data with the State Drugs Controller clearly reveal how the State-level screening committee keeps sitting over many queries sent by the State drugs unit for action against manufacturers of NSQ drugs. Also, the cases filed against spurious drugs manufacturers or sellers keep pending for years in courts, thus giving a long rope to such players to stay afloat in their ventures.
As per NSD 2014-2016, a majority of NSQ drugs in Odisha made their way to Government sale outlets, known as Niramaya or Jan Aushadi stores, then via over 18,000 retail outlets across the State. When nearly eight drugs per 100 sampled from Government drug stores were branded NSQ, only around four per 100 drugs sampled from the State’s retail stores were found NSQ though the proportion of NSQ drugs in Government stores is not gigantic nationally given that the NSD listed Odisha at around 31st spot among a total of 36 States and UTs.
But Odisha figured higher at 11th rank to emerge in the dubious top-15 States , where the maximum proportion of parenteral drugs random checked were found NSQ. In contrast, the NSQ proportion in oral drugs has been put at around 3.9 per cent only.