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Bengaluru: Three batches of Compound Sodium Lactate or Ringer's Lactate injection solution were found to be Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) in May, according to the state drugs controller.
This time, these drugs came from manufacturers other than Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals, the West Bengal-based pharmaceutical company that found itself in soup after supplying allegedly substandard Ringer's Lactate IV solution that was linked to maternal deaths in Ballari last year.
A note put out by the Deputy Drugs Controller (DDC) B P Arun identified 15 drug batches to be NSQ last month. Three batches were Compound Sodium Lactate injections, one each manufactured by Ultra Laboratories, Hassan; Tam Bran Pharmaceuticals, Madhya Pradesh; and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals India, Ahmedabad.
Other drug batches found to be NSQ included Paracetamol tablets Pomol 650 by Aban Pharmaceuticals; MITO Q7 Syrup by Bion Therapeutics India; Sterile Diluent for poultry multi-dose vials by Safe Parenterals; Spnflox-OZ tablets by IndoRama Health Care; PANTOCOAT-DAR by Swefn Pharmaceuticals; two batches of Sodium Chloride injection by Puniska Injectables; Alpha Lipoic Acid, Folic Acid, Methylcobalamin, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin D3 tablets by East African (India) Overseas; Piracid-O suspension by Rednex Pharmaceuticals; Glimiz-2 by Knm Pharma; and Iron Sucrose Injection by Regain Laboratories.
A batch of kumkum by Mysuru-based N Rangarao and Sons Pvt. Ltd. was also flagged as not-of-standard quality.
The DDC has urged the public to not use these drugs.
State health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao wrote in a post on X: "I urge all chemists, doctors, hospitals and nursing homes to IMMEDIATELY stop stocking/selling/using these products. If you have any stock, inform your local Drugs Inspector or Asst. (Assistant) Drugs Controller at once. Your safety is our top priority. Please do not use these listed drugs/cosmetics. Strict action will be taken against violators (sic)."