167 drug samples flagged as 'not of standard quality' in December 2025: Health ministry

New Delhi: As many as 167 drug samples were flagged as "not of standard quality" (NSQ) across the country in December 2025, the Union health ministry has said.

In a monthly drug alert issued by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), central drug laboratories found 74 samples manufactured by various firms to be NSQ, while state drug testing laboratories identified 93 samples that failed to meet prescribed quality standards.

The list of NSQ and spurious drugs is put up on the CDSCO portal on a monthly basis as part of routine regulatory surveillance activity.

"For December 2025, central drugs laboratories have identified 74 drug samples to be not of standard quality and state drugs testing laboratories have identified 93 drug samples as NSQ," the statement said.

Identification of drug samples as NSQ is done based on failure of the drug sample in one or more specified quality parameters. The failure is specific to the drug products of the batch tested by the government laboratory, and it does not warrant any concerns on the other drug products available in the market, it said.

Meanwhile, four drug samples from North Zone (Ghaziabad) and one each from FDA Ahmedabad, Bihar and Maharashtra were identified as spurious in December. These were manufactured by unauthorised entities using brand names owned by other companies.

The matter is under investigation, and action will be taken as per the law, the statement said.

This action of identifying NSQ and spurious medicines is taken regularly in collaboration with state regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from the market, the ministry said.