Indian gov hits back at drug quality critics

The Indian Department of Commerce has published a 1,000 word riposte to the drug quality furore sparked by the Ranbaxy scandal.

In the statement, the Indian government defends its record on drug quality and regulation, citing a slew of statistics and initiatives to support its argument. The release was prompted by ‘extensive media reporting’ on Indian drugs, much of which stemmed from the Fortune exposé of Ranbaxy.

Fortune describes Ranbaxy as a firm at which ‘lying to regulators and backdating and forgery were commonplace.’ The Indian government retorts that "vested interests" are trying to make "isolated issues" with quality into a bigger problem, and others are doing the same with fakes.

“[We have] strong reason to believe that some of the spurious drugs detected in the international markets, alleged to be exported from India, are desperate attempts by other countries getting affected by the strength of Indian pharma industry,” the government said.

In 2009, the Indian government lodged a protest with Chinese authorities after fake drugs marked ‘Made in India’ were found in Nigeria. The government claimed the counterfeits actually originated in China. Since then India has tried to help Nigeria tackle its fake drug problem.

"[The Indian government] has joined hands with the Nigerian authorities to fight the influx and has thus reduced the flow of such medicines. China is not doing anything to help the Nigerian government,” a NAFDAC spokesperson told IANS last month.

India has also tried to improve its reputation by implementing drug quality laws. The government statement cites its oft-delayed track and trace program as evidence it is committed to monitoring drug quality.

Tracking and tracing of secondary and tertiary packaging is now in place. In April India postponed an expansion to include primary level-barcoding by one year. A rollout to primary level packaging is now due on July 1, 2014. The original deadline was July 1, 2011.