-The Telegraph The Supreme Court today refrained from passing any order on a plea for early listing of a PIL that had sought closure of pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy, recently penalised by US authorities for allegedly supplying adulterated and substandard drugs. The public interest petition sought registration of criminal cases under the penal code and also the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1947, against company officials for allegedly cheating millions of patients in the...

-The Telegraph The medical fraternity is worried over the seizure of sub-standard and fake drugs, at times lethal for patients. Police on Wednesday seized 30 boxes of suspected spurious drugs from a cart in the Gandhi Maidan area. Station House Officer of Gandhi Maidan police station Rajbindu Prasad said nobody could produce transaction bills for the consignment. The drugs seized were ofloxacin (for respiratory tract infections), oflozen (for typhoid), ossopan (calcium tablets prescribed...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: It's widely known that a month's dose of cancer drugs can cost lakhs, but what isn't common knowledge is that Tata Memorial Hospital's doctors are working on alternatives that could cost less than Rs 1,000 a month. Dubbed the metronomic treatment protocol, it comprises daily consumption of a combination of low-dose Medicines that are cheap because they have been around for decades. "There is no need to...

-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 Business Standard After the US and Indian authorities, the Medicines manufactured by Ranbaxy Laboratories are now under the scanner of hospitals, too. Mumbai's leading Jaslok Hospital has already put up a notice advising its doctors to avoid prescribing Ranbaxy drugs, while some others are reviewing the matter. Medanta Medicity officials say they will soon assess the situation and take a decision. "I have received around a dozen queries from patients recently....