Shimla: Himachal Pradesh High Court has taken strict cognizance of the production of substandard medicines in the state. The court asked the state government whether the drug manufacturers had got the testing done by a private pharmaceutical laboratory or not.
If the medicines were found to be substandard during testing, whether the State Government was informed or not.
The court has also summoned an affidavit regarding the action taken against private pharmaceutical laboratories. The court has asked the state government why a regular employee has not been deployed in the drug testing laboratory, who can be held responsible.
During the hearing of the case, the court was told by the People for Responsible Governance organization that in the year 2014, Rs 3.50 crore was spent by the Industries Department for the construction of the laboratory, but it has not been made operational yet. Apart from this, the Central Government had released an amount of Rs 30 crore under the Twelfth Five Year Plan.
The court has also summoned the latest status report from the state government regarding the construction of the laboratory. Let us tell you that the court has filed a petition in public interest on the news published in the daily newspaper.
It has been highlighted in the news that the National Drug Regulator and the Central Drug Standard Control Organization have declared samples of 11 medicines manufactured in Himachal as substandard, while one sample was found to be fake.
A veterinary medicine was also among those found to be counterfeit. Manufacturers of substandard and counterfeit medicines are located in the industrial clusters of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, Kala Amb as well as Paonta Sahib.
A division bench of Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Ajay Mohan Goel has scheduled the next hearing of the case on November 16.