March 2010

In an effort to pursue its demands on amending the Pharmacy Act, 1948, by taking the latest changes in the sector into consideration, the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is envisaging a meeting with the Union Health Ministry, probably in the second week of April.

Narayana Hrudayalaya Tissue Bank and Stem Cell Research Centre (NHTB-SCRC) has slated an investment of Rs 1.50 crore for the facility expansion this year. The Centre which commenced operations in October 2009, now intends to further increase its research efforts in chord cell therapies. The facility now requires additional storage and processing units for the same. The expansion will be underway by June this year.

Singapore, Mar 30, 2010: A new and simple test to help patients cope better with COPD, a chronic lung disease is being launched to local medical practitioners of Singapore. Experts now hope the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) that was funded by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and is freely available for use, will be a significant breakthrough in efforts to reduce the burden of one of the world’s most debilitating diseases.

The H1N1 swine flu virus can develop resistance quickly to antivirals used to treat it, U.S. doctors reported on Friday.

Government researchers reported on the cases of two people with compromised immune systems who developed drug-resistant strains of virus after less than two weeks on therapy.

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), the cornerstone legal authority for the provision of health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives, was made permanent when President Obama signed the bill on March 23, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The authorization of appropriations for the IHCIA had expired in 2000, and while various versions of the bill were considered by Congress since then, the act now has no expiration date.

The central government has approved the establishment of Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC) in India with matching contribution as per Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) approval of 2 million Euro (approximately Rs 13 crore at current exchange rates) per year for next five years. The Centre would be registered as a “Society” under the relevant Act.

 In women with 2 or more unexplained miscarriages, aspirin therapy alone or in combination with the low-molecular-weight heparin derivative nadroparin does not increase the live-birth rate, relative to placebo, despite its widespread use for this purpose.

That is according to the randomized placebo-controlled Anticoagulants for Living Fetuses (ALIFE) study, published online March 24 in the New England Journal of Medicine.