-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Union health ministry has banned the sale of formulations with oxytocin through retail chemists and restricted domestic manufacture to public sector companies amid concerns about the clandestine manufacture and sale of the drug, believed to be misused in the dairy sector. The new rules come into effect from July 1. The government has also banned the import of oxytocin and its formulations, but public and private sector...

-The Hindu There are 119 laws that discriminate against persons affected by leprosy: plea The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and all States to remove references to leprosy as a disability from statute books, saying leprosy is curable and patients should not be victims of social stigma. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, heading a three-judge Bench, said references to leprosy as a disability in the written laws amounted to “statutory...

-The Indian Express Falling rates in March stumps industry in month synonymous with high prices. Pune: Since February, Deepak Pawale, who runs a poultry farm at Retavadi village in Khed taluka of Pune district, has been selling 45-day-old birds weighing 2-2.5 kg each at well below his estimated production cost of Rs 70 per kg. “The traders aren’t ready to pay higher rates, as they tell me that their sales have slowed down,”...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Ayurveda, unani or homoeopathy healers cannot practise without getting themselves officially registered, the Supreme Court has ruled while expressing concern at quacks "playing with lives". Practitioners of alternative medicine need to be registered under the Indian medicine Central Council Act, for which they are required to obtain a degree or diploma from a recognised institution teaching these courses. "Earlier, there were very few institutions imparting teaching and training to...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: A new set of global guidelines on managing diabetes that aim to replace those followed for over three decades, has stirred up a controversy within the medical community. Medical practitioners here in India feel the guidelines which recommend relaxing blood sugar targets will, not only lead to serious complications in diabetics, but also confusion in treatment protocol, advising that these should be ignored for Indians. There were over...