The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) is set to conduct surprise inspections of medical stores across the state, but a severe shortage of drug inspectors may undermine this critical effort. Currently, the FDA is operating with only 40% of its required staff, leaving fewer than 40 inspectors to oversee drug store inspections. Compounding the issue, over half of the current inspectors have been reassigned to election duties.
This shortage comes at a time when 53 essential drugs have failed quality tests conducted by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. Despite the urgent need for oversight, the FDA’s limited manpower means only 3,000 drug samples are being tested annually, far short of the required 10,000 samples. With Mumbai alone having over 10,000 licensed medical stores, the current staffing level is insufficient to ensure the quality of medicines sold in the state.
The consequences are alarming. Recently, the FDA confiscated 21,600 substandard Ciprofloxacin tablets from a Nagpur hospital after testing revealed they lacked key components. This incident underscores the broader issue of substandard drugs entering the market, which could pose serious health risks to patients.
With common medications for fever, cold, and pain often going untested, only 1.5% to 2% of drug samples are flagged as sub-standard, raising concerns about the reliability of the state’s drug safety measures. The FDA is awaiting the release of inspectors from election duties and hopes to fill 170 vacant positions in the coming months to strengthen its ability to safeguard public health.