The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) in August issued a 'Not of Standard Quality' (NSQ) alert against some of the common and top-selling medicines. These medicines are produced by well-known pharmaceutical companies including Alkem Laboratories, Hetero Drugs, Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL), and Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Among the 50 and more medicines against which the NSQ is issued include those for diabetes, hypertension, vitamins, calcium D3 supplements, bacterial infections, and acid reflux. These medicines are said to have failed the quality tests conducted by the CSDCO. Among the flagged medicines are paracetamol tablets (500 mg), anti-diabetic drug Glimepride, high blood pressure medication Telma H (Telmisartan 40mg), acid reflux medication Pan D, and calcium supplements Shelcal C and D3. This list extends to include the commonly used antibiotic Metronidazole, manufactured by HAL.A Kolkata state-tun laboratory found that Cepodem XP 50 dry suspension from Hyderabad based Hetero that is commonly prescribed for children for infections do not meet quality standards. Furthermore, it was found that Alkem Health science's antibiotics, Clavam 625 and Pan D were also not meeting the standards. Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd.'s Ursocol 300 was also flagged as spurious, and mutlilple batches of Telmisartan manufactured by Life Max Cancer Lab in Haridwar also failed the test. In the list released by CDSCO mentions 48 popular drugs in a report, and in another report, CDSCO lists a detailed report of the responses from the pharmaceutical companies whose products failed. The CDSCO has also earlier carried out sample checks and have banned over 156 fixed-dose drug combinations which were "likely to involve risk to humans." These include fever medications, painkillers, and allergy tablets such as Cheston Cold and Foracet. Since 2014, the regulator has prohibited 499 FDCs- combinations of two or more known drugs in a single dose form. How Does It Impact Health?Poor quality drugs can have a severe impact on health which includes death, disease progression, drug resistance and so on. Poor quality drugs can contain toxic ingredients or incorrect active ingredients that can lead to death. It can also make chronic and infectious diseases worse. Furthermore, these drugs can lead to drug resistance and can threaten the health of people who are consuming it. It can also cause side effects like rashes, hive, and other health risks, leading to further increasing the health care cost, and leading to loss of income. It can also lead to people's loss in faith in healthcare system.