ISLAMABAD – On the directives of National Assembly Standing Committee on Health, Ministry of Health here on Friday conducted a crackdown against spurious drugs and cancelled registration of 283 drugs and rejected application for 17 others.
A decision to this effect was taken in the 230th meeting of the ministry’s Drugs Registration Board a few days back. These drugs were found either substandard, adulterated or not in conformity with the Drugs Act 1976.
Last month, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Health took a strict notice of unregistered tranquilizers and other adulterated drugs easily available to everyone because former health minister had given the illegal quota for raw material in huge quantity to produce such medicines. The committee had asked the Federal Secretary Health Nargis Sethi to immediately remove this medicine from market and ban it for future.
The Drug Registration Board led by the DG Health, Asad Hafiz along with representatives from the ministries of Law and Justice, Livestock and Dairy Development, Intellectual Property Organisation, provincial health departments, Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association, Pharma Bureau and Pakistan Chemist and Druggists Association decided to annul cancellation of 293 drugs deemed to have cardiac toxicity effects in humans. Instructions in this regard were also issued to manufacturers of these drugs to stop making them and withdraw the existing stock from the market.
The board also decided to put stricter control measures on tablets containing Ephedrine as single active ingredient and reduced the quota limits to control their possible misuse. The Board considered 120 application of registration of medical devices including stents, cannulas, catheters and syringes. 103 drugs were approved for registration and while 17 were rejected.
