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    PSM Interchange 2011 Wraps Up successfully

Bejon Misra, Founder of The Partnership for Safe Medicines India, moderated the 1:45pm panel, "The Role of Patients and Healthcare Professionals," at the Partnership for Safe Medicines Interchange on October 27, 2011.

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PSM Interchange 2011 Wraps Up successfully

From the Maryland Attorney General, to the International Association of Patient Organizations, the second annual Partnership for Safe Medicines Interchange 2011 provided local and international perspectives on the issues involving counterfeit medicine.

The Partnership for Safe Medicines 2011 Interchange on October 27, began with dynamic remarks from Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and Congressman Jim Matheson of Utah highlighting the risks of counterfeits to patient safety. The first panel, "Protecting Our Medicines" was a lively discussion between the CDER office of the FDA represented by Michael Levy and policy makers Travis Johnson, of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, and Alex Dahl, of the Coalition for Patient Safety and Medicine Integrity, concerned with lenient penalites for drug cargo thieves and the online counterfeit medicine sellers. Read more

Read details of individual speakers at the PSM Interchange...

13000 bottles of cough syrup seized

SILCHAR, OCT 11 :In a joint operation along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Karimganj district, the Border Security Force and the Assam Police confiscated thirteen thousand 100ml. bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup valued at Rs. 9.75 lakhs.

"Sindoor":Sacred or Sacrilegious

New Delhi , OCT 15.: Sindoor, a powder of ritual significance that married women smear on themselves and which is used in Hindu rituals at shrines, has attracted the attention of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), who has been receiving complaints that the sindoor products sold in retail outlets and shrines contain toxic substances. Industrial dyes and synthetic chemicals used in sindoor can cause rashes, pigmentation and skin cancer, according to the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB).

Fake Beauty: Beauty cream makes you itchy?

Bangalore OCT 14 , :
On a tip off from a Nivea employee, Rs. 3 lakhs worth of counterfeit cosmetics marketed under the Nivea brand name have been seized by the police from shopkeepers in Bangalore. The shopkeepers claim that the products are from China.

Fake Medicines and Cosmetics seized

ABU DHABI, OCT 17:
In a crack down on cosmetic-selling outlets, the Public Health Division of the Abu Dhabi municipality has seized two tons of cosmetics and herbal medicines. These products were found to be fake or did not comply with health specifications.

FDA approves Merck diabetes drug

Juvisyn, a new drug produced by the Merck, has been approved by the US regulatory body, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). Juvisyn acts to both control blood sugar and reduce cholesterol.

Vitamin supplements may increase risk of death :

Dr. Mursu of the Department of Health Sciences, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, has found in a study he carried out in collaboration with colleagues that long term use of multivitamins among older women do not reduce the risk of mortality.

Subcommittes of DCC set up for more regulatory effectiveness

Mumbai :
The Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D&C Act) and Rules is to be amended so as to make it a more effective regulatory instrument. To that end, a sub committee of the Drugs Consultative Committee or DCC was set up by the government of a year ago.

Govt. registered Ethics Committee to include Housewife as a member :

Mumbai :
On investigating the clinical trials of a breast cancer drug allegedly given to 30 illiterate agricultural labourers by the Hyderabad based Axis Clinicals, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) uncovered irregularities with regard to recruitment and informed consent, in addition to which the independence of the Ethics Committee associated with the trial was found to be questionable.

Ban on Letrozole:

New Delhi :
The infertility drug Letrozole, suspected of causing genetic abnormalities in children conceived by its use, has been banned by the Health Ministry with effect from 17 October 2011, on the ground that it " … is likely to involve risk to humans and safer alternatives are available".

Tamiflu now available at chemist outlets against a prescription :

New Delhi :
Oseltamivir phosphate, also known as Tamiflu - the only known medicine for effectively treating the H1N1 swine flu and H5N1 bird flu -  is to be shifted from  Schedule X  to Schedule H of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, as per a decision taken by the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB).