-The Hindu Every biomedical and health research involving human participants, whether in conventional areas, or in new evolving specialised fields, will have to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the proposed Biomedical and Health Research Regulation Bill, 2013. Research on human subjects in the specified areas like assisted reproductive technology (ART); organ, tissue and cell therapy; genetic and genomic studies including techniques of genetic engineering and gene therapy; nano medicines;...

-The Hindu The huge deficit in blood availability outside urban centres must jolt the government into legalising unbanked blood supply Twenty-year-old Putul, living in a village 70 km from a district headquarters town in Chhattisgarh, had been in labour for two days and a night. It was her first pregnancy. In order to hasten labour, the local quack administered several injections that increased her uterine contractions. Forty hours after the onset of...

-The United Nations The rate of new HIV infections fell by one-third over the past decade due to increased spending and effective treatment, the United Nations agency leading the global HIV/AIDS response today reported. The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that 2.3 million adults and children were newly infected with HIV in 2012, a figure that represents a 33 per cent reduction in annual new cases compared to 2001. In the...

-The Times of India LONDON: India is recording a whopping 5.2 million injuries each year due to medical errors and adverse events. Of these, the biggest sources are mishaps from medications, hospital-acquired infections and blood clots that develop in legs from being immobilized in the hospital. Similarly, approximately 3 million years of healthy life are lost in India each year due to these injuries. A landmark report by an Indian doctor from Harvard School...

-The Business Standard Confusion over clinical trial compensation norms Even as the health ministry is evaluating a formula to compensate victims of clinical trials, an expert committee, headed by Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, has recommended some stringent measures that appear contrary to the formula under consideration. The committee, set up by the ministry to formulate policy and guidelines for clinical trials, has suggested that no compensation be given for therapeutic inefficiency during clinical trials...