Substandard drugs: Former MP Avinash Rai Khanna writes to Nadda, rights commission

Rajya Sabha former MP Avinash Rai Khanna has raised serious concerns over 52 medicines, including paracetamol, failing quality tests conducted by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

In a letter to the National Human Rights Commission and Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda, he expressed his dismay over the lack of quality control by pharmaceutical companies, terming it as a direct threat to public health.

Khanna emphasised that compromising on the quality of medicines was unacceptable, as it directly endangered the health of citizens. Every individual had a fundamental right to safe and standard healthcare, and the negligence shown by the pharmaceutical companies was a blatant violation of those rights, he said.

Demanding stringent action against the companies responsible for producing substandard medicines, he urged that strict guidelines be issued to all pharmaceutical companies to ensure adherence to quality standards.