Greetings on yet another issue of The Prescription!
The IPC, an Autonomous Institution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, created to set standards of drugs in the country with its basic function to update regularly the standards of drugs commonly required for treatment of diseases prevailing, had our founder director Bejon Misra over as chief guest on our Independence Day. Read more on this and how India is witnessing an alarming rise in the rate of carbapenem-resistant bacteria underlining the need for enhanced antimicrobial surveillance and prevention of antibiotic misuse in PSM India capsules.
The Government of India is introducing various constructive laws and policies along with the high court in matters relating to clinical establishments violating rules, printing of generic name in double the font size than brand name, price-ceiling list, over dependence on China for import of bulk drugs, among others. Get an insight into this under Drug laws and Policy Injections.
This issue of The Prescription holds some interesting articles in Pharma Injections on how fixed dose combo ban hits the retail Pharma business and how the rising cost of Chinese raw materials is eating into margins of Indian Pharma companies. While you review the list on new drugs approved till date under the section named Drug Dopes, catch up on spurious drugs being unearthed in India and the world over in National and Global Injections respectively.
Do not hesitate to mail your comments on this edition to help us further improve. We appreciate your support and trust in us and are happy to have you as our loyal reader.
Feedback is what keeps us going. Should you have any query or question, please feel free to get in touch with us. Write to me on pooja@jagograhakjago.com
Stay Healthy. Stay Protected.
Pooja Khaitan
Editor-in-Chief,
The Prescription
“The most important activity should be to develop a robust communication strategy to reach out to the citizens and engage them in detecting spurious and not of quality standards medicines in the supply chain”
Prof. Bejon Kumar Misra
Founder Director, PSM Patient Safety and Access Initiative of India Foundation
Message by PSM India Founder-Director, Bejon Misra during his visit to the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) on the occasion of the 72nd Independence Day as Chief Guest
Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare should be paramount in the culture of IPC and we must appreciate our responsibility towards the community to improve research and development in the interest of patients and encourage innovation in Science to lead discoveries in India for the Global Community. Even though we are the Pharmacy of the World, we are yet to communicate the role of IPC to the citizens and make them understand the constructive role we are all playing to empower them with quality healthcare at the most affordable cost.
India is witnessing an alarming rise in the rate of carbapenem-resistant bacteria underlining the need for enhanced antimicrobial surveillance and prevention of antibiotic misuse. Carbapenem-resistant pathogens are a major public health challenge as carbapenems are the last line of treatment for patients with serious infections.
China Sacks 6 Senior Officials Over Vaccine Scandal
Beijing, 18 Aug 2018: China has sacked six senior government officials for their neglect of duty and misconduct following a drug-safety scandal in which a pharmaceutical company manufactured substandard vaccines, including that for rabies, exported to India and other countries.
WHO Announces Important Changes To Multi Drug Resistant TB Treatment
MUMBAI, 18 AUG 2018: Ahead of the first-ever United Nations High level Meeting next month, the World Health Organisation on Friday announced crucial changes to the multi drug resistant TB treatment regimen, which includes expanding the usage of the latest tuberculosis drug, Bedaquiline. It also calls on countries to minimize the use of injectibles, which are known to cause serious side effects in patients.
Scientists discover chemical that causes brain cancer cells to self-destructs
British researchers were experimenting with various chemicals that they hoped might slow down the growth of glioblastoma — the most aggressive cancer that starts out in the brain. To their surprise, one synthetic chemical called KHS101 did far more than expected, basically destroying the cancer cells completely. These surprising findings may pave the way for a novel drug treatment that might one day save people’s lives from a very aggressive form of cancer.
US FDA Officials Visit Gujarat FDCA For Capacity Building Towards Global Regulatory Harmonization
Mumbai, 24 Aug 2018: A team of US FDA officials recently visited Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) as part of the global harmonization programme for capacity building, training, networking, knowledge sharing and compliance.
Counterfeit Medicines And Fentanyl Pills In Top Ten Of Seized Items By CBP
August 17, 2018: A recent article in USA Today listed pharmaceuticals and personal care products as the seventh most frequently seized type of shipments by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In fiscal year 2017, CBP processed over 278 million cargo and postal shipments only to seize and destroy 34,143 shipments containing counterfeit items.
Over Half Of U.S. States Have Now Seen Fatalities From Counterfeit Drugs Made With Fentanyl
PHOENIX, August 16, 2018 : During a roundtable discussion focused on the nation’s worsening opioid crisis, advocates for ensuring a safe drug supply shared new data detailing the increasing prevalence of counterfeit medications and the rising number of deaths tied to them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is meant by Track and Trace in medicines?
Ans: Track and trace technology in medicines is a simple and effective way to leverage basic serialization and protect patients and consumers against counterfeiting (spurious) and substandard medicines. Pharmaceuticals companies and governments of countries worldwide believe that drug counterfeiting can be reduced significantly by implementing product serialization. Serialization requires a comprehensive system to track and trace the passage of prescription drugs through the entire supply chain. Every product needs to be identified by a unique serial number in addition to the origin, shelf life and batch number. This will allow the product’s lifecycle to be traced from production, through distribution and finally to dispensation to patients at the drugstore or hospital. Read More>>>
Be Careful with ‘Alternative’ Therapies
Article contributed by Home maker, Ms.K.Saundarya, Chennai
Due to adverse reports about modern allopathic medicines, a lot of many people are moving towards alternative therapies and healing techniques. But have you ever wondered how effective these are? The point to be noted here is that almost everyone wants to make money by exploiting the fears of others. This is a sad but also a bitter truth.
Dr. Amanda Bhatt, Health Care professional:Days are changing drastically. People are now much concerned of their health and rational use of medicines. We are together with PSM India in their diligent work of stopping use of all type of falsified medicines in India.
Mrs. Radhika, Homemaker tweets: I am a regular reader of “The Prescription” as it provides me much information regarding safeguarding of health of our family.
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Disclaimer : Our newsletter endeavors to compile patient safety information from various sources . PSM India may not be held responsible for any article published in The Prescription.