Health Updates

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289 Essential Bulk Drugs to Come Under Price Control
Economic Times, June 30, 2011

The government plans to bring medicines made from 289 essential bulk drugs, constituting nearly a third of the country's Rs 58,000-crore drug market, under price control. This was done after the Supreme Court had directed the Govt. to increase the number of bulk drugs under its control. More

Import of Drugs under Price Control may be hit
Business Standard, June 25, 2011

The import of medicines under price control may be stuck for at least a month, as apex drug price regulator, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), is unlikely to consider price revision applications for dozens of imported drugs during its monthly price review meeting. NPPA's decision to postpone the clearance of price revision applications for imported medicines was based on a recent Delhi High Court order which asked NPPA to review the manner in which it wanted to fix the price for a US-based insulin brand. More

High Returns from Smaller Doses
Business Standard, June 23, 2011

The BSE Healthcare index, which has delivered a return of 10 per cent over the last year, has outperformed the broader markets (Sensex), which has fallen one per cent during the same period. Notably, select mid-caps have outperformed the broader markets as well as the healthcare index. More

Is the drug fake? SMS and get reply
Business Line, June 21, 2011

US Company Sproxil has landed with a mobile-based solution to detecting fake drugs. The mobile product authentication software, which was meant for only pharma companies, is now going to help in detection of fake drugs. Users of the drug can text the unique code number on the packet to the manufacturer as a free SMS and got a reply with an ‘OK' assurance. More

Central drug regulator now raids pharmacies
Business Standard, June 18, 2011

The apex drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) bypassed the state drug regulators to conduct surprise raids to seize banned drugs from chemist shops and hospital pharmacies in two states. Of the 134 retail medicine outlets covered during the raids conducted in Delhi and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan on June 15, the agency traced presence of banned drugs in 85 shops. More

Banned Drugs on Sale in Stores
The Hindu, June 18, 2011

Several prohibited drugs were found to be on sale when the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) conducted raids at different places, including hospitals in Delhi and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. The raid covered 134 drugs sales outlets, of which 85 were found to be selling banned drugs. More

Govt. to revamp draft pharma policy
Business Standard, June 16, 2011

The ministry of chemicals and fertilisers will revisit its draft pharma policy to incorporate the changes in the recently finalised National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). once the draft policy is reviewed to incorporate NLEM drugs, the ministry will request the Group of Ministers (GoM) looking into the draft pharma policy to convene a meeting. The ministry had suggested a pharma policy that talks about including all NLEM drugs under price control. More

New Essential drugs list finalized
Times of India, June 12, 2011

India has finalized the country's all new National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). It has 348 essential medicines, while the 2003 list had 354. 47 dugs have been deleted from the 2003 list; however, no anti-cancer or anti-HIV drugs have been deleted. Eight new cancer drugs have been added in NLEM 2011, aggregating the tally to 30. More

Free Medicines: Govt. to issue tenders soon
Times of India, June 13, 2011

In an effort to ensure availability of free medicines at government hospitals from October 2, the medical and health department will issue tenders to purchase the medicines soon. The medicines would be made available in all the government hospitals and other heath centres in the rural areas of the state, which would be free for all. More

Prescribe only generic drugs, A.P. doctors told
The Hindu, June 06, 2011

Health authorities in Andhra Pradesh have asked government doctors in the State to prescribe only generic drugs and avoid the practice of writing brand names in the prescription. The move is aimed at helping patients avail themselves of free drugs for a wide range of ailments in government hospitals. More

Official Code of Ethics for Pharma Inc.
Economic Times, June 04, 2011

The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has finally spelt out marketing practices for the pharma industry , two years after it voiced concerns about the state of drug marketing in the country. A draft Code of Marketing Practices for the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, released on June 2, bans all kind of gifts to doctors. More

Kill substandard drugs
Business Standard, June 01, 2011

The Union ministries of commerce and health have set themselves an identical goal of putting in place a system whereby every package of medicine can be monitored under a system of tracing and tracking, preferably using bar-coding technology. The commerce ministry wants to safeguard Indian pharmaceutical exports from the bad name they were given when some spurious medicines in Africa, labelled “made in India”, were eventually traced to China. More

‘Free medicine’ scheme needs close monitoring, feel experts
The Hindu, May 25, 2011

The Rajasthan Government's decision to provide free medicines to all patients at government hospitals across the State from October 2 this year has generated a demand for establishment of a robust system for community-based monitoring of the programme in every district. However, experts have emphasized the need to ensure that the people at large do not fall into the trap of forces opposed to the initiative with the sole objective of profit-making “to the extent of patients' exploitation”. More