The central drug regulator found 112 medicine samples failed lab quality tests in September 2025 of which 49 were from Himachal Pradesh. Alarmingly, two of them were cough syrups.
Glimpse:
In step with the wider cough syrup scandal, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) revealed that 49 of the sub-standard samples came from Himachal Pradesh and included two cough syrups declared “not of standard quality” and one labelled “spurious”.
At a critical juncture in India’s pharmaceutical safety landscape, the CDSCO’s drug alert for September 2025 discloses that 112 medicine samples across India failed laboratory quality tests. Most notably, Himachal Pradesh accounted for 49 of them, including two cough syrups and one dry syrup found to be spurious.
The failing samples spanned essential medicines cough syrups, analgesics, antibiotics and were mostly sourced from manufacturing hubs like Baddi, Nalagarh and Kala Amb. State authorities in HP have issued notices for fresh documentation, batch recalls and tightened inspections. The alert adds urgency to national efforts already in motion to recall contaminated cough syrups and enforce stricter manufacturing audits.
“Quality failures in essential medicines aren’t minor glitches they’re potential threats to public health.”
By
HB Team
