Recall time for substandard drugs down from 30 to 2 days now

Time of India

5 hours ago

Bengaluru: Digitisation of the drug recall process in the state has reduced the time taken to withdraw substandard medicines from the market from 30 days to two now.
In July, 67 drug samples were declared substandard, and drugs worth Rs 40.5 lakh were withdrawn in just two days, food safety and drug administration officials said.
"In the past, they were just sending an ink-signed copy by post to far-off places. Thereafter, it would take three to four days again for processing. This led to delays in the recall process and substandard drugs would permeate the market by then. With new software in place, this recall is now possible within two days," food safety and drug administration commissioner Srinivas K told TOI.
You Can Also Check:
Bengaluru AQI
|
Weather in Bengaluru
|
Bank Holidays in Bengaluru
|
Public Holidays in Bengaluru
Explaining how the old substandard drug recall system worked, Dr Kempaiah Suresh, deputy drugs controller, said: "Previously, the drug recall process was more manual.
If found not of standard quality (NSQ), a report was generated on the XLN DCD website. The report was printed out and sent by post to the drugs controller and the district investigating official where the sample was drawn. From there on, the district investigating officer would send a letter to the rest of the district and other districts where this drug was distributed, in writing.
The stock recall would take a month because of this lengthy process."
Now, a major part of this process has been digitised. "The moment NSQ is declared, the investigating officer will e-sign the document (which is also valid in court). All stakeholders get a message from the XLN DCD portal within 2-3 hours of a drug being declared NSQ on their mobile numbers. The investigating officer then issues the notice, including to distributors concerned, via email and post. This email is sent within 48 hours.
Officers can download the copy test report from the XNDLS portal. With this, NSQ stocks worth up to Rs 48 lakh were recalled in June," he added.
This information is also sent to drugs controllers of other states for necessary action and recall of substandard drugs, thereby preventing NSQ drugs from reaching the public, the officer added.
BOX
Notices issued to street vendors, bus stand stalls for lapses
Of 1,557 street vendors across the state inspected by the health department for food safety, quality, and hygiene in July, as many as 406 were issued notices for various lapses and fines amounting to Rs 44,500 were imposed on the spot.
Training on hygiene and food quality was imparted to 1,240 food vendors.
The department also issued notices to 206 of the 889 food stalls inspected at 186 bus stands across the state and imposed fines of Rs 55,000. As many as 99 food samples were sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Notices were also issued to 190 hotels/restaurants out of 736 checked and fines of Rs 21,500 were imposed. The department also submitted 291 drinking water samples to the laboratory for analysis.