-Outlook Aiming to humanise the treatment of mental illnesses, government has drafted a new Bill which proposes to give Patients the right to choose in advance the kind of treatment and recommends use of electric shocks in rare cases. In the new draft law for mental sickness, government also proposes to ban electro convulsive treatment (ECT) (electric shocks) for minors as also its use directly in adults and recommended its use only...

-The Times of India In a major move aimed at checking unnecessary medical tests and procedures, the health ministry on Sunday said it was working on a plan to make it mandatory for all private hospitals to declare and display the treatment costs of different diseases. Jagdish Prasad, director general of health services (DGHS), told TOI that the ministry's plan would check overbilling and bring in transparency in the healthcare sector. "Our aim...

-Outlook Indian MPs would soon float a forum to advocate elimination of stigma and discrimination against persons affected by leprosy. "Next parliament session, we will float a forum to end leprosy and advocate the rights of persons affected by the disease," Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi said at an international symposium on leprosy and human rights in Asia. Also supporting the cause were Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Lok Sabha...

-The Times of India  Strong control over morphine — a highly effective painkiller that has left millions of Indians in needless pain — has left India red-faced on the global stage. Calling use of opioid analgesics like morphine "sub-optimal" in India, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday asked India to immediately reassess regulatory requirements on the dispensing of essential medicines like morphine to ensure their wider availability and accessibility besides sensitizing...

-The Telegraph A blend of rice bran oil and sesame oil appears to reduce high blood pressure nearly as well as does a common medication, a preliminary study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has suggested. The study has found that people with mild or moderately high blood pressure whose households switched to a blend of rice bran oil and sesame oil for two months showed significant improvements in blood...