Shimla
The high court has ordered the state government to provide a QR code to measure the quality of medicines in the state. The code will reveal the date of production, expiry date, details of the unit, batch number, and details of the components from which it will be used.
Consumers will also get information about medicines. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Satyen Vaidya asked the state and the central government to make stringent rules regarding quality of medicine, manufacturing companies, and issuing licenses. The bar code of medicines was checked in the courtroom, which revealed that all information is not available on the bar code. Advocate General Anup Ratan said the government will issue a notification on Wednesday regarding the orders of the court. The state government filed a status report with the court.
The court asked how many officers are there for drug inspection. The drug controller said that 39 drug inspectors, 6 assistant inspectors, are drug controllers. 5 posts are vacant. The court asked the government to consider appointing a full-time drug controller to enhance the quality of medicines being made in the state. The court asked the government to submit a report in three weeks.
The court said the government has laid down the criteria for granting license to pharmaceutical companies and testing labs. The government has been asked to prepare a register to ensure accountability of the officer concerned. There are two ways of testing and sampling of medicines. The first is from the approved laboratory of the company and the second from the government. Medicines are sold in the market on the approval of the lab. The samples were found to have failed in the market. The court ordered strict rules to be framed so that the lives of people are not compromised.
