Editor,
The deaths of over 20 children in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other parts of India after consuming Coldrif cough syrup have shone an unflattering light on the Indian pharmaceutical industry and the systemic regulatory collapse.
While our nation prides itself as the “pharmacy of the world”, the grim reality is a systemic collapse that has repeatedly failed to ensure the safety and efficacy of medicines produced for both domestic and international markets.
The Indian pharmaceutical industry has positioned itself as the “pharmacy of the world” by supplying more than 40 per cent of generics used in the US and more than 90 per cent of medicines in several African countries. However, the grim reality is that its regulatory mechanisms fail to do justice to this billing. Moreover, while pharma units are required to maintain a database on manufacturing practices and inspection results to alert manufacturers and doctors about the history of a brand, state regulators lack autonomy and resources to carry out their mandate of ensuring the safety and efficacy of drugs. Strengthening vigilance while making the regulatory oversight mechanism more robust is the need of the hour.
I call on the authorities to strengthen inspection protocols, increase the number of testing laboratories, and impose harsher penalties on manufacturers of substandard drugs. The safety of our medications is a matter of life and death and should not be compromised.
Jubel D’Cruz
Mumbai
Via e-mail
