India Plans to Expand its Drug Inspectors

India’s main regulatory body, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, plans to hire as many as 250 new inspectors in 2017 in order to improve the safety and efficacy of drugs produced in India. This proposal follows increased inspections by the US FDA, which has increased scrutiny of overseas suppliers. In recent years, the USA FDA has discovered inadequacies at Indian drug manufacturing sites, resulting in restricted access to the US drug market.

Furthermore, India Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, mandated doctors to prescribe drugs by their generic name instead of by more expensive brand names. This is an effort to make medicine more affordable for the lower-classes in India.