Scroll.in The Jan Vishwas Bill, 2023, passed by Lok Sabha on July 27, is in the news for its lenient approach to the crime of manufacturing “not of standard quality” (NSQ) drugs. But comparatively less attention is being paid to the adverse impact that the legislation will have on an equally serious issue, which is the regulation of pharmacies that have a key role to play in India’s drug supply. To begin...

KEY TRENDS   • Oxfam India's 2023 India Supplement report on poverty and inequality in India reveals that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3...

Livemint Recent deaths in Gambia, Uzbekistan and the US, allegedly caused by toxic drugs made in India, has the Centre reportedly planning to centralize drug regulation. How effective will this measure be? The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is the apex regulatory body. Each state has its own regulator. The state regulators look after licencing and audit manufacturing facilities while CDSCO is responsible for approving new drugs, imports of devices, clinical...

-PTI/ NDTV.com The DCGI said Gambia has informed, according to media, that there has been no direct causal relation established yet between the cough syrup consumption and the deaths. New Delhi: The WHO drew a premature link between the deaths of children in Gambia and the four India-made cough syrups which adversely impacted the image of the country's pharmaceutical products across the globe, India's drug regulator has told the global health body. In...

-Down to Earth No regulation on marketing strategies by drug companies has created a medical autocracy, the Dolo-650 controversy shows If you had to take paracetamol 650 milligrams instead of paracetamol 500 mg three times a day during the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be familiar with the drug called Dolo-650. The drug is prescribed for reducing fever and pain, but the medicine possibly reached you thanks to its manufacturer’s market strategy. A petition...