The FDA says India’s largest drugmaker lied about test results for more than twenty of its generic drugs and falsified other test results. The announcement follows a six month investigation of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. after the FDA closed U.S. borders to generic drugs made at Indian plants found to have manufacturing problems.
The FDA had issued warning letters in September concerning violations of its good manufacturing practice requirements. The Import Alert detained Ranbaxy’s drugs at all U.S. borders to prevent unsafe generics entering the U.S. market. The seized drugs included popular generic versions of cholesterol drugs and antibiotics.
In recent years India has become one of the leading suppliers of generic drugs since they are able to undercut the prices from U.S. competitors. The FDA has been investigating testing violations by Ranbaxy for years but only recently had enough evidence to take action.
As generic drugs continue to rise in popularity in the U.S. due to patient demand for lower costs and pressure from insurance companies, doctors are increasing the number of generics they are prescribing to their patients. This makes it all the more important for the FDA to continue to adequately oversee, investigate and test the huge amount of drugs being imported into our country every day. As in the case of Ranbaxy’s drugs, cheaper is not always better, and it could be hazardous to your health.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
