The Partnership for Safe Medicines India is a group of organizations and individuals that have policies, procedures, or programs to protect consumers from spurious or contraband medicines. For more information, please visit jagograhakjago.com
  
Various measures to fight the menace of fake medicines in India are being constantly taken by various stake holders. 840 people prosecuted for flouting drug rules in Chennai or 83 drugs found substandard in Jammu and Kashmir; Indian machinery has become alert and their vigilance is highly noticeable now. No doubt, there is lot being done to curb this menace but our greatest concern must always rest with the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. These groups are often hidden, living in remote rural areas of our country and having little to say or react. PSM India initiative has visited several remote districts of Assam and has launched the Patient Alliance for North Eastern states which is striving to protect the vulnerable villagers from fake and substandard consumption of medicines. An appeal to all stake holders to also concentrate on our villages as they are the ones who most need the guidance . If you have any suggestions, comments or queries, please email me at pooja@jagograhakjago.com. Call PSM India toll free helpline 1800 - 11- 4424, to bring cases of spurious medicines or any kind of adverse drug reaction to the notice of the authorities. Happy Reading ! Pooja Khaitan 
“Doctors and nurses, with their training and their experiences, would be able to detect unusual patterns of disease. That's why we say it is important for every country to have a proper surveillance system. The function of the surveillance system is to detect unusual patterns of diseases”. Dr Margaret Chan  CPhI Southeast Asia: Connect Seminars 2014 20 - 22 May 2014, Jakarta International Expo, Jakarta, Indonesia 3rd Annual Pharmaceutical Cold Chain India 22 - 23 May, 2014 - Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre, Hyderabad, India
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 840 persons prosecuted for flouting drug rules
CHENNAI, May 2014: In the past three years, the Tamil Nadu drug control authority has prosecuted 840 persons for violating the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Since 2011, the number of prosecution each year has been increasing steadily. However, experts say the number is small considering the mushrooming medical shops.
 83 more drugs found substandard in JK
SRINAGAR, May 2014: With government revealing that 83 more drugs have been found substandard in Jammu and Kashmir, a Division Bench of the J&K High Court has directed the state to show what action has been taken against the pharmaceutical companies responsible for marketing the drugs in the state.
IPA-US FDA workshop stresses regular upgradation, strengthening of facilities to meet regulatory compliance
HYDERABAD, May 2014: The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA)-United States Food and Drugs Administration (US FDA) workshop held in Hyderabad stressed on the need for the Industry to continuously upgrade and strengthen manufacturing facilities to face zero tolerance from regulators. According to Dr. Albinus, Deputy Country Director (India), US FDA, the regulators are not biased to any country or company. He stressed US FDA adopts zero-tolerance policy and accordingly the Indian firms needs to continuously upgrade their facilities to uphold quality and safety of pharmaceutical products.
Physicians to soon get new revised model prescription format
MUMBAI, May 2014: While Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) efforts to implement uniform and good prescription practices by launching a model prescription format is on since February, a new revised model prescription format is currently being drafted by Medical Council of India (MCI) in consultation with Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), State Pharmacy Council and FDA.
 TACKLING IRRATIONAL FDCs
May, 2014: The task of cleansing the country of irrational and harmful drug combinations has at last begun from last month. The expert panel headed by Dr B Suresh, president of the Pharmacy Council of India, has already commenced the work and recommended cancellation of licenses of some Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) sold in the market and gave a lifeline of three months to some others to prove the efficacy with additional data. DCGI lays down special conditions to allow import of drugs with residual life less than mandated 60%
NEW DELHI, May 2014: Only under special conditions like charity activities and national health programmes, the drug regulatory authorities would permit the import of drugs with residual shelf life less than 60 per cent, the office of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has clarified.  Fake Morning-After Pills Found In Peru May Hint At Bigger Problem
PERU, May, 2014: A survey of emergency contraceptives in Lima, Peru, turned up worrying results: More than a quarter were either counterfeit or defective. Some of the morning-after pills tested contained too little of the active ingredient, or none at all. Other pills contained another drug altogether, researchers reported Friday in the journal PLOS ONE. World facing polio health emergency
MAY, 2014: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of polio is an international public health emergency. Outbreaks in Asia, Africa and Middle East are an "extraordinary event" needing a co-ordinated "international response", the agency says. Organized crime group with connections to Romania distribute counterfeit drugs in Western Europe
ROMANIA, May, 2014: Italian investigators discovered that an organized crime group, with connections to Romania, is behind the distribution of stolen and counterfeit cancer drugs in Western Europe, stated an Italian official, cited by the Wall Street Journal.  Antibiotic resistance a worldwide threat to public health: WHO
NEW DELHI, May , 2014: Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to public health with cases being reported from every region of the world and having the potential to affect anyone, the World Health Organisation has said. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as antibiotic resistance is also known as, is a technical term that means resistance to medicines used against microorganisms, thereby making the drugs ineffective. Shantha Biotechnics'Shan5 drug gets WHO nod
HYDERABAD, May 2014: Shantha Biotechnics, part of the French health-care major Sanofi, has regained its pre-qualification status with the World Health Organization (WHO) for its pentavalent paediatric vaccine Shan5, the company announced on Monday (May 5). Four years ago, it had lost this pre-qualification after some white sediment was found in some of its Shan5 vials. Three Wockhardt drugs suspended
MUMBAI, May , 2014: Drugmaker Wockhardt has been asked by authorities in Himachal Pradesh to stop selling three drugs, the company said, without giving reasons. In a statement to the stock exchange, the company said the HP drug controller has suspended the manufacture, sale or distribution of fixed dose combination drugs - Dicyclomine Hydrochloride IP 10mg (for irritable bowel syndrome), Tramadol Hydrochloride (for pain) IP 50mg and Acetamenophen IP 325mg (for pain and fever).  We find lot of over-the-counter (OTC) combination drug products known as Fixed dose combinations (FDCs) in the market for various health ailments which all promises better patient compliance and faster drug action. But, as a piece of advice we shouldn’t just pop these pills without proper medical guidance as lot of irrational formulations have been found to be currently present in the market which can cause serious health hazard.
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PSM's 5th annual conference will be held on September 18, 2014 at the KnightConference Center at The Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Av., NW, Washington, D.C.
jagograhakjago.com; jagograhakjago.com; jagograhakjago.com Disclaimer : Our newsletter endeavors to compile patient safety information from various sources .PSM India may not be held responsible for any article published in PSM NEWZ .