Fake Antibiotics & Painkillers Flood Rajasthan Market: Probe Reveals Wide-Scale Spurious Drug Crisis

A silent health crisis is unfolding in Rajasthan, where hundreds of medicines have failed quality tests many only after they had already reached patients. The revelation comes on the heels of the state government suspending its drug controller over the recent cough syrup deaths, sparking fears of a deeper, systemic problem in India’s pharmaceutical oversight .

Documents reviewed by India Today TV reveal that in the past year alone, hundreds of drug samples in Rajasthan have failed laboratory tests. The failed samples include essential antibiotics, anti-allergics, painkillers, and anti-diabetic drugs medicines used daily by thousands of patients. The worrying part: most of these drugs were already sold in large numbers before the test results declared them substandard.

Some of India’s most commonly used medicines were among the failed samples. Six batches of antibiotics Amoxicillin, Clavulanic Acid, Ciprofloxacin, Cefpodoxime, and Ceftriaxone injections did not meet quality standards, even after over one lakh units from Medirich Ltd had been sold. Steroid Betamethasone also failed in three batches, with more than 30,000 tablets from Medivel Biotic already in circulation before the test results were released.

The problem extends beyond antibiotics. Four batches of anti-allergics like Levocetirizine and Montelukast failed quality checks after 35,000 units from Therawin Formulation were sold. Anti-diabetic medicines such as Glimepiride and Pioglitazone failed across three batches, with 18,000 units from Relief Biotech already in circulation. Painkillers like Aceclofenac and Paracetamol also failed tests, along with calcium and vitamin D3 supplements together accounting for more than 60,000 doses sold before any red flags were raised.

Even life-saving drugs for heart ailments weren’t spared. Two batches of Losartan tablets failed tests after more than 10,000 tablets were sold by Amex Pharma. Several samples of gastric and PPI drugs also did not meet the required standards.

Officials admit that these are only the visible signs of a much deeper issue. Some medicines tested had missing salts, while others were found to be contaminated including injectable fluids meant for hospital use. Rajasthan’s Drug Controller Commissioner, T. Shubhmangalam, said, “We are taking substandard drugs very seriously.” He added that the state would conduct intensive inspections of 65 pharmaceutical manufacturers over the next two days to identify and remove unsafe products.

But despite such assurances, enforcement records reveal a pattern of inaction. By law, every failed drug sample should trigger a court case. Yet in most instances, no prosecution followed. Samples that were supposed to be sent to the central laboratory in Kolkata for national blacklisting were left pending by suspended Drug Controller Rajaram Sharma, who is accused of shielding the offending companies instead of taking action.

Rajasthan’s current Drug Controller, Ajay Phatak, told India Today TV that 23 counterfeit drugs were found in 2023, 29 in 2024, and three so far this year. “We have received court permission to prosecute 16 of them, while interstate cases remain pending,” he said.

However, officials admit that investigations into other products made by companies already caught with fake or substandard drugs were never completed. The state government’s decision to suspend Sharma came after mounting evidence that he had failed to act on reports of failed drug samples and had allegedly protected firms under investigation.
Experts say the crisis goes far beyond Rajasthan. Across India, counterfeit and substandard medicines have infiltrated markets for nearly every disease. Weak enforcement, outdated drug control laws, and overlapping state and central jurisdictions have turned the country’s drug regulation into what one expert called “a bureaucratic maze.” By the time tests confirm that a drug is fake or substandard, thousands sometimes millions may have already consumed it.