CDSCO warns against unsupervised use of painkillers and antibiotics
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, in a September 21 circular, warned against indiscriminate, repeated or prolonged use of NSAID painkillers and antibiotics, linking misuse to kidney damage and chronic kidney disease. The regulator reminded doctors, pharmacists, hospitals and the public that these drugs need prescriptions. It urged doctors to follow antimicrobial stewardship; no new ban was announced.
Syllabus: Prelims · Science & Technology; GS2 · Statutory & Regulatory Bodies; GS3 · Science & Technology
Why it matters
Take a person with chronic joint pain who keeps buying painkillers at a chemist without seeing a doctor. A 2021 study in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology examined 28 reports of NSAID-linked chronic kidney disease from the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India: 82% of patients were aged 40 to 80, body and joint pain were the main reasons for taking the drugs, and the authors blamed prolonged use. The circular says antibiotics are not needed for most uncomplicated viral infections, yet every needless course helps bacteria become resistant. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections worldwide was resistant in 2023. When first-line antibiotics fail, surgery and cancer treatment become riskier and costlier, so a habit at the chemist's counter becomes a public-health problem.
Prelims pointers
- CDSCO: India's national drug regulator under the Directorate General of Health Services, Union Health Ministry; headed by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
- Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs Rules, 1945: drugs needing medical supervision sit in Schedules G, H, H1 and X; Rule 97 sets their label warnings.
- Schedule H1: red Rx symbol and boxed warning on the label; lists third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins, carbapenems, anti-TB drugs such as rifampicin, and some sedatives and opioids.
- AWaRe: WHO's classification of antibiotics into Access, Watch and Reserve groups, introduced with the 2017 Essential Medicines List as a stewardship tool.
- Access antibiotics are narrow-spectrum, low-cost first- or second-choice drugs with low resistance risk; Watch antibiotics have a broader spectrum; Reserve antibiotics are last resorts for multidrug-resistant infections.
- 70% Access target: endorsed at the 2024 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR; at least 70% of human antibiotic use should be Access-group by 2030.
- National Programme on AMR Containment: launched in 2013 under the 12th Five Year Plan; first National Action Plan on AMR released in April 2017.
- NAP-AMR 2.0 (2025–29): One Health approach, six strategic objectives, and action plans with timelines and budgets for each key stakeholder ministry.
Practise a UPSC-style question
Consider the following statements about the CDSCO circular on NSAIDs and antibiotics:
1. It imposes a new ban on the sale of painkillers.
2. It asks doctors to follow antimicrobial stewardship principles.
3. It was issued by a body that functions under the Directorate General of Health Services.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
1 is incorrect: the circular restates existing prescription rules and announces no new ban. 2 is correct: it asks doctors to prescribe antibiotics on antimicrobial stewardship principles. 3 is correct: CDSCO, headed by the Drugs Controller General of India, functions under the Directorate General of Health Services of the Union Health Ministry.
More from the 30 September 2026 edition
- Cabinet approves Green Energy Corridor Phase-III for intra-State lines and batteries Economy
- IRDAI proposes phased cuts to insurers' distribution cost limits Economy
- Centre notifies CAFE-III fuel-efficiency norms for passenger vehicles from 2027 Environment
- India proposes AIIB support for MSME technology adoption and skills Economy
- NGT orders joint panel to inspect encroachments at Sambhar Lake Environment
- Railways launches first LNG-diesel dual-fuel DEMU train from Sabarmati Sci-Tech