42 drug samples found \"not of standard quality (NSQ)\" in April: Health Ministry

The matter is under investigation, and action will be taken according to the law.This action of identifying NSQ and spurious medicines is taken on a regular basis in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market.

The central drugs laboratories found 42 drug samples manufactured by various firms to be ''not of standard quality (NSQ)'' in its monthly drug alert for April, Union health ministry officials said on Thursday.

Further, the state drug testing laboratories have identified 127 drug samples as NSQ, they said.

According to routine regulatory surveillance, the list of not of standard quality (NSQ) and spurious drugs is displayed on the CDSCO portal every month.

''For the month of April 2026, Central Drugs Laboratories have identified 42 drug samples to be NSQ and State Drugs Testing Laboratories have identified 127 drug samples as NSQ,'' a health ministry statement said.

A drug sample is identified as NSQ when it fails in one or more of the other specified quality parameters. The failure is specific to the drug products of the batch tested by the government laboratory, and it does not warrant any concerns on the other drug products available in the market, it said.

Further, in April, one drug sample from Bihar was identified as a spurious drug, which was manufactured by unauthorised manufacturers using a brand name owned by another company. The matter is under investigation, and action will be taken according to the law.

This action of identifying NSQ and spurious medicines is taken on a regular basis in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market.