Govt to bring in barcodes to fight fake drug menace

To tackle fake drugs, the Union health ministry will soon mandate barcodes or QR codes on certain medicines. This applies to antimicrobials, narcotics, vaccines, and psychotropic substances. The Drugs Consultative Committee approved the amendment to the Drugs Rules, 1945. Earlier, barcoding was implemented for some cancer drugs. Top brands already have barcodes for authentication and tracing.