-Live Mint Developments a part of reforms initiated after apex court’s intervention to amend Drugs and Cosmetics Act The health ministry has tightened the norms for Clinical Trials by making it mandatory for companies to compensate patients who may suffer injury or death while participating in the trials even if they have not been caused by the drugs being tested.   So far, the compensation has been restricted only to cases where the...

-The Economic Times Pharma companies sponsoring Clinical Trials in India would now need to compensate volunteers in cases of trial-related deaths or injuries. Firms and clinical research organisations failing to pay up, could face suspension of trials and even a permanent ban. The decision to make compensation mandatory in such cases comes four weeks after the Supreme Court chided the government for its sloppy regulation of Clinical Trials. A senior government official said...

-The Guardian Don't believe the hype: GM is in the grip of a few firms that profit from selling the chemicals they engineer their seeds to resist Thirty years ago, genetic engineers hoped new technology would revolutionise world farming and reduce or even eliminate the need for fertilisers and pesticides. It was a noble idea that deserved success. But only promises came. In the 1990s the public was told genetic modification would...

-The Hindu In a typical case of putting the cart before the horse, the Health Ministry is now in the process of amending the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 to regulate human Clinical Trials taking place in the country. More than the death of over 2,000 people during 2008-2011 in Clinical Trials, it was the recent rap by the Supreme Court that has shaken the government from its “deep slumber” and...

-Live Mint Court says legal, ethical issues involved; directs govt to monitor and regulate Clinical Trials of all experimental drugs  The Supreme Court directed the health ministry to monitor and regulate all Clinical Trials of experimental drugs in the country until further notice and observed that unregulated trials have caused “havoc”. The apex court order on Thursday revoked the power of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization under the Drugs Controller General of...