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Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu & Karnataka declare highest number of NSQs in July
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
September 05 , 2026
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Over 45% of the total 199 Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) drug samples reported by the state drug testing laboratories in the month of July, 2026, were collected and tested by the drug control authorities in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, according to data from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
Drug samples from domestic pharma majors such as Zydus Healthcare, Lupin, J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Dabur India, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Ipca Laboratories, and Alkem Health Sciences, and multinational pharma firms Sanofi and Glaxo SmithKline Pharmaceuticals were listed by the State drug regulators as NSQs during the month of July.
According to the data available from the CDSCO, the State drug laboratories across the country has identified 199 samples as NSQs, out of which 51 were listed by Uttar Pradesh. Tamil Nadu has listed 26 NSQs, while Karnataka reported 16 NSQs during the month.
Samples identified as NSQ by the State laboratories include a sample of diclofenac sodium and paracetamol tablets IP from Zydus Healthcare, levofloxacin tablets IP 500 mg from Lupin, nifedipine sustained release tablets IP 10mg from JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Hajmola regular from Dabur India, aceclofenac 100 mg, serratiopeptidase 15 mg & paracetamol 325 mg tablets from Ipca Laboratories, and dexamethasone tablets IP 0.5 mg from Cadila Pharmaceuticals, among others.
Four drug samples marketed by Alkem Health Sciences, a Unit of Alkem Laboratories Ltd - amoxicillin and potassium clavulanate tablets IP, cefixime tablets IP, pantoprazole gastro-resistant tablets IP 40 mg, and pantoprazole gastro-resistant and domperidone prolonged- released capsules IP - were listed as NSQs during the month.
One sample of glimepiride tablets IP from Sanofi India and betamethasone valerate and neomycin skin cream from GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals were also listed as NSQ by the state laboratories.
One sample of omeprazole gastro-resistant capsules IP 20 mg from public sector undertaking (PSU) Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, and another sample of diclofenac sodium tablets IP 50 mg from another PSU, Kerala State Drugs Pharmaceuticals Ltd were also declared as NSQs.
The Central Laboratories under the CDSCO reported 40 drug samples as NSQs during the month.
It may be noted that the higher number of NSQs may indicate improved surveillance by the states, but the data on how many samples were picked up in total or by the states which have reported the highest number of NSQs are not revealed by the CDSCO.
While the ministry of health and family welfare, in its routine press statement on monthly NSQ data, stated that there were 280 drug samples tested as NSQ during the month of July, the detailed list in the CDSCO's alert page lists only a total of 239, with 199 from the state laboratories and 40 from the central laboratories.
Besides, while the pending list of states who have not submitted the data for the month till the deadline has Odisha, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir listed, the detailed list of NSQ samples have data on drug samples tested by these state laboratories.
The states which have not submitted the data within the timeframe in the prescribed format include Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
As reported recently, Laghu Udyog Bharati (LUB), the voluntary network and welfare organisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) with over 66,400 industry members, has requested the central drugs regulator to highlight that 97% of the medicines available in the country are of standard quality, while the industry would work towards further reducing the presence of Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) drugs in the market.
The organisation, in a submission to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), referred to the data presented by the minister of state for the ministry of health and family welfare Anupriya Patel in Rajya Sabha in March, this year. The Minister informed the upper house of the Parliament that out of the total samples of 4,92,904 tested in five years, almost 14,342 (2.91%) were NSQs and 1,593 (0.32%) were spurious or adulterated.
LUB said that 2.5-3% NSQ cases should not overshadow the 97% standard quality drugs available in the market, and requested the drugs regulator to publish the list of 97% standard quality compliant companies also.
The reasons for drugs becoming NSQ are multi-factorial and not always manufacturing failure. The factors that could impact the quality standard of the drugs include storage and distribution failure beyond the control of the manufacturer, temperature excursion during transit - especially in summer season, lab to lab variation or analytical method variation, and post-manufacturing degradation at retail or warehouse level.
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