How India’s ban on 2 painkillers is linked to the opioid crisis in West Africa

Over the weekend, Indian authorities banned the manufacturing and export of Tapentadol, Carisoprodol combination drugs, two highly addictive opioids. The action comes after an investigation revealed how these drugs were being illegally exported to parts of West Africa, namely Nigeria and Ghana, fuelling an opioid crisis India has banned the manufacture and export of two highly addictive opioids – tapentadol and carisoprodol after an expose found they were fuelling a public health crisis in parts of West Africa. India’s apex drug regulatory authority has asked the drug control authorities of states and Union Territories to withdraw all export NOCs and permission to manufacture all combinations of the two drugs, with Drugs Controller General, Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi saying that the decision to ban the two drugs came after officials had looked into “the potential of drug abuse and its harmful impact on population”. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation is responsible for testing the exports as per their protocols, and the state does not play a role.” India’s health ministry also put out a statement, which read: “The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, along with the CDSCO, remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of citizens in India and abroad. This combination is licensed by the relevant State Food and Drug Administration and is exported under the necessary No Objection Certificate from the Assistant Drug Controllers and with an export licence issued by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.” The pharma company further added that the manufacturing code shown in the BBC expose does not match theirs, depicting it was manufactured by some other company.