Drug recalls in the US add to Indian pharmaceutical companies' woes

The reasons behind recall could vary from contamination (cross-batch, air-borne, dosage mix up, container, impurities) to wrong labelling, discolouration of tablets, non-standard quality

As Indian pharma firms, which account for 40 per cent of the generic medicines sold in the US, see a rise in drug approvals, analysts point out that the rate of recalls, too, is on the rise. 

This month, anti-hypertension drugs of two Indian drug firms (Torrent Pharma and Hetero Laboratories) got added to the recall list by the US drug regulator for valsartan products for containing a potentially cancer causing material. In August, Mumbai-based Lupin, too, initiated recall for its hypertension tablet for containing foreign substance (metal contaminant). Lupin’s recall is not part of the Chines API issue. 

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