14,342 drug samples failed quality tests in India between FY2021 and FY2025
Between FY2021 and FY2025, India tested 4,92,904 samples; 14,342 were declared not of standard quality (NSQ) and 1,593 were spurious or adulterated, according to Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel.
Even as testing ramped up by 37% since fiscal 2021, the failure rate has stayed steady at about 3%.
Regulators have been busy too. Since late 2022, they've inspected nearly 1,000 sites and taken action against over 860 of them.
Despite ramped up testing, failure rates remain steady
With more testing and new labs coming up (thanks to a ₹756 crore investment), the government's trying hard to keep unsafe medicines off shelves.
But steady failure rates show there's still work to do in making sure all medicines are safe for everyone - especially when you consider how many people rely on them every day.