The Prescription: Partnership For Safe Medicines India

The Prescription: 17th January 2016 Issue

PSM INDIA Capsules Editor’s Emulsion Dose of the Day National Injections Drug Laws & Policy Injections Pharma Injections Global Injections DRUG DOPES UpComing Events PSM Pill FAQ Laughter Dose Blog Addict Contact Us

News Archive

EDITOR'S EMULSION

Pooja Khaitan

One of the important pillars of public health services is the access to medicines and medical products that conform to the parameters of quality, safety, efficacy or performance along with their affordability. Making such quality medical products available is not only the responsibility of the drug regulatory structures at the Centre and the States but also as consumers and consumer organization, it’s our duty to always choose the right product and take the correct decision regarding health and medical treatment. Read More>>>

If you have any suggestions, comments or queries, please email me at pooja@jagograhakjago.com.
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Pooja Khaitan
Chief Editor , The PRESCRIPTION Partnership for Safe Medicines India.

DOSE OF THE DAY

“ Pharmaceuticals in the country has the potential to become global leader soon. With ‘Make in India’ campaign, Government is supporting the domestic Pharmaceutical industry and removing various bottlenecks. To compete with the other countries, production cost of drugs has to be brought down, and for this purpose Government of India is coming up with Pharma clusters/parks where common facilities and infrastructure shall be provided”.

Shri Ananth Kumar
Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Government of India

PSM India Capsules

PSM India applauds Government of India’s move in curbing online sale of medicines

Recently, the Drugs Controller General of India directed all State governments to take action against unauthorized sale of medicines on websites. In a letter dated December 30 as published on CDSCO website (http://www.cdsco.nic.in/writereaddata/Online-Sale-dec-2015.pdf) , Joint Drugs Controller S .Eswara Reddy has instructed all State Drug controllers to keep a strict vigil on online sale of medicines and take action against those indulging in online sale of medicines in violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules. Under these Rules, it is mandatory for retailers and wholesalers to take a licence to sell drugs. Chemists across the country held a day's strike in October to protest against online pharmacies which do not have necessary permission to sell medicines and this has been an issue of concern regarding public health.

National Injections

RACKET BUSTED: Syringe maker and reputed hospital gouging patients New Delhi, January 2016: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has found Max Super Specialty Hospital, Patparganj and Becton Dickson India Pvt Ltd, a manufacturer of disposable syringes, prima facie guilty of colluding to sell disposal syringes from the hospital's in house pharmacy at double the open market price.

Pentavalent vaccine alert after suspicious death in Pune Pune, Jan 2016: The State Health Department has banned the use of a particular batch of pentavalent vaccine - launched in November 2015 - after a two-month-old baby girl died in Ratnagiri district in December following vaccination.

Maharashtra FDA seizes huge stocks of codeine containing cough syrups from unlicensed tradersMumbai, Jan 2016: Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently seized 15,000 bottles of codeine containing cough syrups of leading brands sold in the open market in Kashimira area of Thane district at a higher cost without a valid license. Stocks of brands like Rexcof manufactured by Cipla Ltd and Corex manufactured by Pfizer Ltd among others were seized during an FDA raid.

Eleven lose eyesight after surgery in RajkotRajkot: Eleven people, including two women, lost their eyesight after undergoing cataract surgeries at a medical camp organized by a city-based trust hospital. The cataract surgery camp was organized by Sadhu Vaswani Hospital in Gaikwadi area last week. On Monday, patients and their relatives reached the hospital complaining of loss of vision. Fearing backlash, doctors and other staff at the hospital disappeared.

Industry urges government to allow practices of small gifts, CMEs & free samples to doctors in revised UCPMPMumbai, Jan, 2016: Even as the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) is in the final stage of preparations to make the Uniform Code of Pharmaceuticals Marketing Practices (UCPMP) compulsory for pharma companies, the pharmaceutical industry in the country has asked the government to allow the companies to continue with some of its long standing practices like small gifts and free supply of physician samples to the doctor fraternity.

Indians More Prone to Cardiac Arrest Due to Poor LifestyleJanuary, 2016: Medical experts have said that Indians are three times more prone to cardiac arrest than Americans owing primarily to poor lifestyle, eating habits and genetic reasons. While on an average the Americans suffer from cardiac arrest in their 50s, Indians get it in their 40s and the prime reason behind it is lifestyle and food consumption, they said here on Sunday. Genetically also the disease is likely to be passed down Indian families three times more than American families.

Drug Laws & Policy Injections

Drug formulations export: Government extends dates for track systemNEW DELHI, JANUARY 2016: The Commerce Ministry today said it has extended the dates for putting track and trace system on the consignments of drug formulations. For non-SSI (small scale industry) manufactured drugs, the date has been extended till April 2016 and for SSIs it will be April 2017. The move is expected to give a relief to the pharmaceutical exporters.

Health Minister announces 4 new IT-based initiatives for citizen-centric health services on Good Governance Day Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare announced four new IT-based initiatives on Good Governance Day, to mark the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Shri Madan Mohan Malaviya and birthday of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, here today. He was speaking at the launch of the AIIMS OPD Transformation Project which envisages the use of IT to provide ease to patients and citizens while accessing services at AIIMS. This is being supported by the Tata Consultancy services as part of their CSR initiative.

Government of India partners with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance January, 2016: Gavi will provide up to $500 million between 2016 and 2021 to support India’s immunisation programme. The Government of India and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have announced a partnership that will help save the lives of millions of Indian children through increased access to vaccines. India is due to begin transitioning away from Gavi support from 2017 and is expected to begin fully self-financing all its vaccine programmes by 2021..

IMA, IPC and NCC – PvPI sign an MoU to work towards encouraging the medical fraternity to report the occurrence of all adverse drug reactions in the country January, 2016: The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), National Coordination Centre (NCC) for Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) and Indian Medical Association (IMA) have signed a letter of intent to enhance their mutual understanding and device ways to promote Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) reporting in the country.

Pharma Injections

Indian healthcare system needs ‘antibiotic policy’ for its prescription and use: IPA-RAD January 2016: Quoting the announcement made by the Union minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ananth Kumar, at the 57th IPC, held in Mysore last month, that the government is pushing for a separate ministry for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, the Regulatory Affairs Division of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA-RAD) has wanted that both the Indian healthcare management and the medicine distribution systems should have a well-planned ‘policy for prescription and use of antibiotics’. The policy makers of health and pharmaceuticals should consider this seriously as a comprehensive antibiotic policy could tackle the increasing menace of antibiotic resistance. Besides, it will help restrict the use of existing and newly developing antibiotics to the emergency

Random use makes even paracetamol unsafe: IMA January 2016: Even the safest of drugs can have side-effects on indiscriminate usage, Indian Medical Association (IMA) has warned. It cited example of paracetamol, a commonly self-prescribed painkiller and anti-fever drug, which has been linked to liver damage, heart attack and stroke in recent researches.Paracetamol is a schedule K drug, which means that the retailer does not need a licence to sell it and people can buy it without prescription.

India's drug verification scheme wins award India's track-and-trace system for exported pharmaceuticals has picked up an award from the Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT). The DAVA (Drug Authentication and Verification Application) project - set up by India's Department of Commerce and designed to stop counterfeit or spurious drugs leaving the country - won the 2015 eASIA award under the Trade Facilitation category.

Global Injections

Fake medicines ring smashed in Hong Kong The authorities in Hong Kong chalked up a major success in the battle against counterfeit medicines as 2015 drew to close.

End of Ebola transmission in Guinea W.H.O declares the end of Ebola virus transmission in the Republic of Guinea. Forty-two days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease tested negative for the second time.

Blocking brain inflammation 'halts Alzheimer's disease'January 2016: Blocking the production of new immune cells in the brain could reduce memory problems seen in Alzheimer's disease, a study suggests. University of Southampton researchers said their findings added weight to evidence that inflammation in the brain is what drives the disease.

Drug Dopes

CDSCO has published the LIST OF APPROVED DRUG FROM 01-01-2015 to 31-12-2015 CDSCO has published the LIST OF APPROVED DRUG FROM 01-01-2015 to 31-12-2015. To know more on it read at:-
http://www.cdsco.nic.in/forms/list.aspx?lid=2034&Id=11.

IIT-M develops dental filling for pain-free, lasting cure CHENNAI, JAN 2016: More often than not patients experience pain or sensitivity after undergoing a dental filling to restore a decayed tooth as most conventional fillings begin shrinking almost immediately after the procedure.

Zurampic approved for hyperuricemia January 2016: The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved Zurampic (Lesinurad) as a combined therapy with xanthine oxidase inhibitor (XOI) for treatment of hyperuricemia associated with gout. Zurampic is to be manufactured by AstraZeneca.

Saffron based crocin to combat liver cancer January 2016: A recent study published in the Recent Patents on Anticancer Drug Discovery has suggested that saffron-based crocin can prevent early malignant lesions in the liver. The results were based on computational analyses, in vivo and in vitro studies.

Uptravi approved for PAH January 2016: The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved Uptravi (Selexipag) for treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in adults. Uptravi has received orphan drug designation. Uptravi is to be commercialized by Actelion-Pharmaceuticals.

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PSM PILL

Campaign addresses online counterfeit medicine sales

When Buying From A Fake Online Pharmacy, IRACM Wants You To Know “It’s All Fake!”
26 Dec 2015: The International Institute Against Counterfeit Medicines (IRACM) has launched a new phase of its awareness campaign about drugs bought on the Internet. The It's all fake message extends a nationwide campaign launched in France in July - entitled What in the world is a fake medicine?, and through the dissemination of an information booklet to make people aware of the fake medicines available on Internet, and that are also bought when travelling.

Frequently Asked Questions Q1. What are blood thinners?
Answer: A common name for an anticoagulant agent used to prevent the formation of blood clots. Blood-thinners do not really thin the blood. They prevent it from clotting. Blood-thinners (anticoagulants) have various uses. Some are used for the prophylaxis (prevention) of thromboembolic disorders; others are used for the treatment of thromboembolism. (Thrombi are clots. Emboli are clots that break free, travel through the bloodstream, and lodge in a vessel.) The anticoagulant drugs used for these clinical purposes include:.Read More>>>

Q2. What are Plasma expanders and how do they act?
Answer: Plasma expanders are agents that have relatively high molecular weight and boost the plasma volume by increasing the osmotic pressure. They are used to treat patients who have suffered haemorrhage or shock. Shock occurs due to reduced blood volume (usually due to haemorrhage) and it is necessary to get the blood volume back to normal as quickly as possible. Read More>>>

Laughter Dose

Blog Addicts

Mrs. Ronita Jain, Public Health Executive blogs : Loads of wishes for your good work PSM India. You have become a consistently growing public forum in our Country!

Ms. Nikita Dhami , Pharma academic Professional tweets : Dear PSM India, your aim towards tackling counterfeiting and improve patient safety is motivating and inspiring us !

Dr. Rahul Raina , MD Medicine : Thanks a lot for the great work during last one year. Wishing all a very happy and prosperous New year !

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