QR code on most-sold drugs from August

NEW DELHI: From August 2023, the primary packaging of commonly sold drugs like Allegra, Azithral, Becosules capsule, Calpol, Pantocid DSR, Monocef and Thyronorm will come with a bar code or quick response code.

The Centre has issued a notification in this regard. It says manufacturers of drug formulation products as specified in Schedule H2 shall print or affix Bar Code or quick response (QR) code on its primary packaging label, or in case of inadequate space in primary package label, on secondary package label that store data or information legible with software application to facilitate authentication. “The stored data or information shall include the following particulars, namely: unique product information code, proper and generic name of the drug, brand name, name and address of the manufacturer, batch number, date of manufacturing, date of expiry and manufacturing licence number,” the notification says.

Officials said the bar code or QR code will help consumers check whether the medicines they are taking are safe and not spurious. “In future, we may add more drug formulations in this list,” said an official.

Over the years, there have been instances of counterfeit and substandard drugs in the market.

Recently, the crime branch of Delhi Police busted an international racket manufacturing and selling spurious life-saving cancer medicines. Allegedly, the fake drugs syndicate used to procure capsules from an associate’s firm and manufacture fake medicines by filling them mostly with starch. It cost them a few rupees in making and packaging these but each capsule fetched them Rs 20,000 at the least.

While a strip of original life-saving drugs costs around Rs 2 lakh in white market, the syndicate promised they would help patients get a strip for Rs 1.5 lakh.