Stories
Drug Panel Tightens Watch on Narcotic Medicines, Seeks States' Help Against Fake Medication
- •The Centre's drug advisory panel recommends a tighter system to track medicines containing narcotic and mind-altering substances, requiring monthly data from states and union territories.
- •A parallel push aims to close loopholes and keep fake medicines out of the market, with both decisions made by the Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC).
- •The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) is tasked with addressing regulatory gaps by March 2027 to prevent illegal diversion of pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
- •The expert panel stressed the need for a reliable national database on the manufacture, sale, stocking, inspections, and enforcement actions for such products, proposing a common digital platform.
- •States and Union Territories are asked to provide comments, details of measures, and suggestions for a national mechanism to curb spurious medicines, with CDSCO preparing a combined proposal.
Key Questions Answered
The Drugs Consultative Committee recommended that every state and union territory submit monthly data on narcotic and mind-altering medicines to the CDSCO by March 2027 under the Vision Document on Drug Control 2026 to 2029. This information will be compiled on a common digital platform to track manufacturing, sales, stocking, inspections, and enforcement actions from factory to shop floor.
Following recommendations from the National Human Rights Commission, the DCC has asked all states and union territories to share details of measures they are implementing against fake drugs. The CDSCO will compile these state inputs into a combined proposal to drive coordinated action among drug regulators, police, laboratories, and forensic institutions.
The CDSCO has been tasked with addressing regulatory gaps related to the illegal diversion of pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotics and psychotropic substances by March 2027. It plans to establish a reliable national database and potentially adapt an online portal built by the Central Bureau of Narcotics for end-to-end track and trace, pending final approval from the Drug Controller General of India.
