-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A Central government panel has recommended stringent checks for pesticides in fruits and vegetables, including imported ones. Submitting a report before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath on Wednesday, the panel - led by a health ministry official - is for intensive monitoring of pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables sold in Delhi. The experts committee, chaired by Sandhya Kulshrestha, was...

-The Business Standard Govt should streamline its free medicines plan The Centre is reportedly going to shelve a plan to procure generic drugs for free supply to patients throughout the country. This is a serious error. Reportedly, states will instead be asked to do so; but, if a perceived inability to procure, stock and distribute these drugs is the reason for backtracking on the plan, how precisely will states be free of...

-The Hindu Seven years after the first warning in June 2006 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and five years after the Department of Justice initiated legal proceedings against the company, Ranbaxy is back in the news for the same wrong reasons. Last fortnight it pleaded guilty to felony charges in the U.S., admitting to selling adulterated drugs with intent to defraud, not reporting that its drugs failed...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Wheat procurement in the rabi marketing season 2013-14 is likely to touch 28-30 million tonne. When procurement began in April, the government had estimated to buy 44.06 million tonne wheat this year. "Wheat procurement this season will fall to 28-30 million tonne," said Union Food Minister KV Thomas. He added that since the government was strict with the OMSS price and didn't accept the industry...

-The Business Standard USFDA's zero tolerance policy requires our drug firms to reorient not just processes but organisational cultures to serve that market credibly The following two quotes from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) news releases may help put the Ranbaxy controversy in perspective. The first sums up what it is that drives the FDA and the second is typical of the challenge the pharmaceutical industry faces. (1) "The consent...