US FDA bans Ranbaxy's 30 drugs

Washington, Sep 17: US has banned import of more than 30 generic drugs, including popular antibiotic Cipro and cholesterol pill Zocor, made by India's Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, citing poor quality in two of its factories. US health officials jumped the gun when Ranbaxy failed to fix numerous problems with its manufacturing operations.

The ban imposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday, Sep 16 does not stop US sales by the Indian drug major and only blocks imports of generic drugs and pharmaceutical ingredients made at Ranbaxy's Dewas and Paonta Sahib plants in India. The FDA says consumers who already have the drugs should not worry.

Further, FDA will not approve any new drugs made at the plants until the problems are resolved. FDA officials said the violations concerned the manufacturing process and not the drugs themselves, urging patients not to stop taking any medications and to talk to their doctors.

OneIndia News