India struggles with conflicting brand names

The World Health Organization has called on India's state governments to prepare a database of registered drug brand names, a move that is welcomed by local media reports, as a solution to the growing problems of misleading product labelling.

The Indian government's Health Ministry has noted a trend whereby products continue to carry the same brand label, yet contain different ingredients. Following a significant cut in the price of aspirin by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, some drug firms allegedly switched to paracetamol, yet maintained the same product name on labels. Unless consumers read labeling carefully, they could easily have taken the wrong product, with potentially serious health consequences.

There is confusion as to whether drug companies inform the correct authorities when changing ingredients in products, at any rate enforcement was only effected following a campaign in the local media.