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A Stinging Indictment of India's Drug Regulation Authority

Vol. 47, Issue No. 25, 23 Jun, 2012

Updated on 15 June 2012

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation is expected to protect the citizen from the marketing of harmful pharmaceuticals. The fi ndings of the 59th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare are an expose of the shockingly lax standards followed by this so-called standards organisation, the casual approach taken in certifying drugs for sale, and the unethical and illegal steps taken by some pharmaceutical companies and medical practitioners in pushing for the introduction of certain drugs in the market. Can and will the government act?

Thanks are owed to Anant Phadke for comments on an earlier draft.

The 59th Report of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare¹ is a stinging indictment of the state of affairs in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).² The report deals with problems specific to regulation of modern medicine³ and is probably the tip of the iceberg.⁴

We summarise some key points made in the report.