Jaipur, Oct. 12 -- At least 81 drug samples -- majorly antibiotics, paracetamols, and medicines for cardiac and liver diseases -- have failed to clear tests by the Rajasthan Food Safety and Drug Control Commission (FSDCC) till September this year, according to an internal report from the state drug authority. According to the report, which HT has seen, at least 4,125 samples have been collected by FSDCC till September 30 in FY2026. Of the 4,125 samples, 81 failed testing by FSDCC. In FY2025, the Commission collected 5,607 samples from various pharmaceutical manufacturing factories during inspections, and 168 of them failed testing. The development comes days after deaths of four children allegedly caused by contaminated cough syrups rocked Rajasthan. The deaths also come at a time when 21 such cases were reported across the country over the last month, raising questions about quality control of drugs. "After the recent deaths of four children, we collected six samples of the Dextromethorphan cough syrup and all of them cleared pour tests," FSDCC commissioner T Shubhmangla said. "We have also collected samples of many other cough syrups for a test now -- a result of which is yet to come. However, a specific figure of those samples are not available immediately." According to drug control officials, cough syrups sold across the state were mostly being manufactured in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. "Following recent developments, we have instructed all medicine distributors to get any drugs, including cough syrups, which are being supplied by any manufacturer from outside Rajasthan to be tested by the Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL) before selling them in the market," state drug controller Ajay Phatak said. He added that at least 65 pharmacies are currently under the department's lens for either supplying contaminated or adulterated drugs in the market. Every district unit of FSDCC was given a monthly target to visit at least 20 pharma companies in the state for inspection, collect samples if found suspicious, and send them for testing in the laboratory in Jaipur's Sethi Colony, the state drug controller said. "The failed samples of the drugs could be categorised in three types- adulterated, manufactured in unhygienic places, and ones with absence of necessary compositions," he said. A classification of the manufacturers of the 81 failed drug samples also revealed that the maximum of 18 samples came from a Solan-based manufacturer in Himachal Pradesh, followed by 13 from Rajasthan, 11 from Uttarakhand-based manufacturers, four from Gujarat, three each from Punjab, Sikkim, and Haryana, two each from Bengaluru, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu, and one from Chhattishgarh. "Products from these companies have failed to qualify the tests many times in the recent year and therefore, we are launching a thorough probe in their conduct and overall manufacturing process. Necessary action will be taken if found any major violation," Phatak said....