The Centre has moved to phase out codeine-based cough syrups and some fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs that are deemed ‘irrational’.
The fate of 19 FDCs and several codeine-based cough syrups is yet to be decided and the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) is discussing the matter.
The industry is divided on the issue of phasing out codeine-based cough syrups, which are used by many as intoxicants.
Recently, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested a group for smuggling drugs between Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai. The NCB team recovered 13,248 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 1,600 kg from the gang.
Arvind