Mail News Service
Jamshedpur: Kolhan has only one drug inspector overseeing 4,000 medicine shops across government and private hospitals, leading to a severe lack of medicine quality checks for the last eight years.
Only 37 drug samples were collected from 19 stores in seven years and reports are still pending. Fake and substandard medicines continue to circulate, leaving patients with ineffective treatments.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) recently found many branded medicines failing quality tests. Meanwhile, the State Drug Directorate has ordered drug inspectors to seize substandard medicines under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
Jharkhand requires 42 drug inspectors but has only 12, with one inspector covering four districts. Due to this shortage, action is taken only on complaints and samples are sent to labs in Kolkata and Chennai, causing years-long delays in reports.
“Patients are suffering as poor-quality medicines delay recovery,” said Dr. Umesh Khan, a senior physician. He urged the government to test medicines before market release and for people to buy only from reputed stores.
