Drug Testing

Jannik Sinner will not be suspended despite failing drug test twice

Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner tested positive twice for a banned anabolic steroid in March and was stripped of prize money and points earned at a tournament in Indian Wells, California, but will not be suspended because an independent tribunal said it was not intentional. The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced the case on Tuesday. Sinner won the Cincinnati Open on Monday and will be among the favourites at the US Open, which starts in New York next week. Sinner made his debut at No. 1 in the ATP rankings in June and is considered among the top stars of the new generation in men's tennis, along with Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner, an Italian who turned 23 on Friday, won the Australian Open in January for his first Grand Slam title. He reached the semi-finals at the French Open in June and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July, before sitting out the Paris Olympics, saying he had tonsilitis. During the Indian Wells hard-court event in March, Sinner tested positive f

Another drug from hospitals found to be of sub-standard quality: Delhi LG

Days after Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena referred a matter pertaining to drugs failing quality standard tests to CBI, Raj Niwas officials on Wednesday reported another medicine used for treating seizures and epilepsy turning out to be spurious. Saxena had last week recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged supply of drugs that "failed quality standard tests" and have the "potential of endangering lives." According to officials, another drug sample taken from Delhi government hospitals was failed by the RDTL, or Regional Drug Testing Laboratory, in Chandigarh. This time an anti-epilepsy drug called 'Sodium Valproate' was found to be falling short of the standards. The report was issued by a government analyst on December 22, an official said. The drugs that have been found to be of "sub-standard quality" included Cephalexin, a critical life-saving antibiotic used for the treatment of lung and urinary tract infections, according to officials. They also included Dexamethasone, a ste

Over 2.9k drugs found to be substandard in tests conducted in 2022-23: Govt

Out of the 89,729 drug samples tested between April 2022 and March 2023, 2,921 drugs were found to be "not of standard quality" while 422 were identified as spurious, the Rajya Sabha was told on Tuesday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said 642 prosecutions were launched for manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs, while 262 persons were arrested during the same period as per information received from drugs controllers of various states and Union territories. This excludes data from Rajasthan. Giving details of the previous year, Pawar said a total 88,844 samples were tested between April 2021 and March 2022 of which 2,545 were declared to be not of standard quality while 379 were found to be spurious. She said 592 prosecutions were launched for manufacturing, sale and distribution of spurious/adulterated drugs and 450 persons arrested during the same period. Responding to a question, Pawar said that in order to asse

US wants to require drug testing for foreign aviation-repair stations

The proposed rule would impact approximately 977 repair stations in 65 countries, ensure "employees are held to the same high level of safety standards regardless of where they are physically located"

Test cough syrups for exports on top priority: DCGI amid contamination row

With India making testing of cough syrups before export mandatory from June 1, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has asked specified state laboratories to examine such samples from manufacturers on "top priority and issue the test report at the earliest". Cough syrup exporters will have to produce a certificate of analysis issued by a government laboratory before the product is exported, effective June 1, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification on Monday. The move came amid instances of quality concerns being raised abroad on cough syrups exported by Indian firms. "The export of cough syrup shall be permitted to be exported subject to export samples being tested and production of a certificate of analysis issued by any of the laboratories..., with effect from June 1, 2023," the notification stated. On Wednesday, the country's top drug regulaor, DCGI, wrote to state drug controllers of Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra

Centre considering testing drugs at govt laboratories before exporting

Amid quality issues being raised globally for the cough syrups exported by Indian firms, the Centre is actively considering a proposal of testing drugs at government laboratories before they are dispatched to other countries. The apex drug regulatory authority, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has proposed testing the drugs (finished products) at government labs before exporting, official sources said. According to the proposal, exporters will have to produce the certificate of analysis of the batches issued by authorised laboratories after which only the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will clear the release of the consignment for export. The analysis of the sample from the export consignment is proposed to be tested at Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) labs viz.,L (Chandigarh), CDL (Kolkata), CDTI (Chennai), CDTI (Hyderabad), CDTL (Mumbai),I. (Guwahati)) and NABL-accredited drug testing labs of .

Maiden Pharma's cough syrups are safe, WHO jumped the gun: DCGI

'Irreparable damage' to Indian pharma's global image, drug regulator writes to WHO

Alzheimer's progression slows by 27% in large-scale drug trial

Lecanemab reduced the pace of cognitive decline in people with early disease by 27% over 18 months when compared with a placebo, meeting the main goal of the trial

Pilot of prominent airline fails drug test; DGCA removes him from duty

A pilot of a prominent airline has been removed from flight duty after he failed a drug test, a senior DGCA official said on Friday. He is the fourth pilot to fail the drug test since the procedure for examination of aviation personnel for consumption of psychoactive substances came into effect from January 31. The test is done for the flight crew and ATCs on a random basis. So far, four pilots and one Air Traffic Controller (ATC) have tested positive for psychoactive substances. According to the official, a pilot of a prominent airline was subjected to the drug test in the national capital. He was found positive in the confirmatory test report received on August 23 and has been removed from the flight duty, the official said. As per the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR), in case the result of the confirmatory drug test is positive for the first time, then the personnel concerned will be referred to a de-addiction centre by the organisation concerned for de-addiction and ...

Why pilot samples that fail drug test have to be sent to labs abroad

DGCA rules highlight limited capabilities among private labs in India to confirm drug tests

Downers in aviation drug test protocols: Pilots oppose new narco rules

Surprisingly, the DGCA has mandated that only 10 per cent of an airline's staff need to be checked for psychoactive substance use in a year

Texas governor's decision: Whether to pardon George Floyd for drug arrest

Doling out pardons is a holiday tradition for Texas Gov Abbott, who around every Christmas grants them to a handful of ordinary citizens, typically for minor offenses committed years or decades ago.

Sikkim police personnel failing mandatory drug test to lose jobs: CM

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has said that all police personnel of the state will undergo a compulsory drug test and those failing it will lose their jobs

SC takes note of different Covid-19 testing charge, asks Centre to decide

It indicated however that the court will not venture into the fixation of the charges which will be taken care of by the Centre

Sun Pharma to test two drugs for treatment of Covid-19, stock up 3.5%

At present there are three clinical trials underway to test nafamostat in Covid19 patients around the world

Meet Shiranee Pereira, the activist who speaks up for the voiceless

Shiranee Pereira is quietly but insistently arguing that dogs can and must be replaced by tech and AI in testing drugs. More to the point, drug firms are listening. She is among India's new Gandhians

Drug testing for welfare recipients in Australia raises privacy concerns

Centrelink is the government agency responsible for welfare payments and many other human services