167 drug samples flagged as ‘not of standard quality’ in December 2025: Health Ministry

In the monthly drug alert issued by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Central Drug Laboratories found 74 samples manufactured by various firms to be Not of Standard Quality (NSQ), while State drug testing laboratories identified 93 samples that failed to meet prescribed quality standards.

As per routine regulatory surveillance activity, the list of (NSQ) and Spurious drugs are being displayed on CDSCO portal on monthly basis. This data has been released for December 2025.

“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,” said a note released by the Ministry.

It added that in December-2025, four drugs sample from North Zone, Ghaziabad, one drug sample from FDA Ahmedabad, one drug sample from Bihar, one drug sample from Maharashtra are identified as spurious drugs, which was manufactured by unauthorised manufacturers using brand name owned by other company. The matter is under investigation and action will be taken as per Act & Rules.

This action of identifying NSQ and Spurious medicines is taken on regular basis in collaboration with State regulators to ensure that these drugs are identified and removed from of market.