The Food and Drug Administration recently seized substantial numbers of generic drugs that did not live up to good manufacturing practices. This is not the first time the feds have taken action on generic products that did not meet quality standards. Last fall, the FDA halted imports from India’s largest generic drug maker, Ranbaxy, after finding evidence of fraudulent behavior and violations of manufacturing practices. More recently, a large number of generic drugs made by the Ethex Corporation were recalled for manufacturing problems. Oversized tablets may have delivered too much medication. Shortages of certain crucial drugs occurred as a consequence.
Now, the FDA has gone after another generic drug company called Caraco. The agency seized 33 different medications including popular beta blockers like atenolol and metoprolol as well as the heart drug digoxin and the sleeping pill zolpidem. Caraco had been warned last fall that it was not in compliance, but had not made adequate progress in addressing the violations. This led to the recent seizures. Although FDA has confiscated the medications the agency advises patients to keep taking any Caraco products already in their medicine chests. With FDA stepping up its enforcement of manufacturing plants, consumers may have more confidence that the agency is cracking down on substandard generic products.
