-The Hindu Kochi: An artificial scarcity of drugs looms large with the new drug pricing regime, slashing prices for 348 essential drugs, set to prevail from July 29. Many retailers who stock Medicines for a week are not picking up Medicines and are keeping a minimum inventory. Some retailers said distributors were not making Medicines available. It has sent medical retail stores into a tizzy about the fate of already available stocks. J.S....

-The Hindu That the Union Health Ministry takes critical decisions affecting a large number of people without any scientific basis does not portend well for public health in India. Neither the ban imposed on the oral anti-diabetes drug pioglitazone on June 18 nor its revocation a month later with a requirement that the Medicine be sold with a boxed warning highlighting the adverse side-effect of bladder cancer was based on any...

-Down to Earth Is India ready to protect itself from the onslaught of food and nutrition industry? India is shouldering a huge burden of malnutrition-in the absence of government figures, a dipstick survey by non-profit HUNGaMA in 2012 suggests that 59 per cent of the country's children could have stunted growth and 42 per cent could be underweight. While the government is still struggling to tackle the problem, the food and nutrition...

-Rediff.com Let us recount some facts to understand the circumstances that led to the death of 23 children at a primary school at Gandaman, Chapra . First, some micro-facts : The primary school struck by the tragedy is a NAV SRJIT VIDYALAYA, a newly created school. In fact, it is a break away from an earlier existing middle school in the village. This school, if you care...

-The Economic Times Over a year ago, I had written a piece, Quo Vadis, Indian Pharma? (ET, May 11, 2012), in this column. Some key issues were highlighted in the article. Perhaps it is time to revisit the subject and bring out some current issues. Price control: Hurray, the department of pharmaceuticals has come out with a new non-intrusive price control methodology, moving from the cost-based model to the average market price...