Government News

CDSCO has taken serious action against companies which were alerted by WHO for suspicious activities and involved in production of hazardous products in the market.

WHO has issued alerts in three cases of syrup products exported from India. Subsequent to the reports, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in coordination with State Drug Controllers carried out joint investigations.

The Indian government has taken a dominant step towards treatment of patients suffering from rare diseases. So far in this fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs. 92.84 crore for treatment of rare diseases.

As per the data available with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 9,675 patients have been enrolled since November, 2019 on the portal of National Registry for Rare and Other Inherited Disorders (NRROID) out of which 4,408 patients are from centrally governed Hospitals.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the Biotech StartUps are crucial to India’s future economy.

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has urged the Jharkhand government to recall its decision of granting permission for opening pharmacies in rural areas without registered pharmacists.

CDSCO to update on a daily basis about batches of cough syrup samples received at each of the central or state drug laboratories. This is to enable work distribution amongst the lab and for release of test reports in a time bound manner by these laboratories.

There is an ongoing global threat posed by toxic cough syrups, the World Health Organization (WHO) told Reuters. The WHO issued safety alerts last year for Indian-made products found in Gambia and Uzbekistan, and this year in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.

Government has banned 14 FDCs after recommendations of the Expert Committee which stated that there is no therapeutic justification for these FDCs and the FDCs may involve risk to human beings.

The Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred by section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics act 1940 (23 of 1940) prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale and distribution for human use of 14 drug FDCs (fixed dose combinations).

The Drug Control Administration (DCA) has stopped 11 pharmaceutical manufacturing firms located in the pharmaceutical hub of Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh, Sirmaur and Kangra districts after significant observations were detected in its functioning during risk-based inspections conducted recently.

State Drugs Controller Navneet Marwaha said, "In the last two months, 29 firms were inspected in the second phase of the joint inspection by the state DCA and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation."

The Director General of foreign Trade made an amendment in the export policy of cough syrup. Now, it is required to test export samples from government labs before exporting cough syrup.

As per revised export policy, cough syrup shall be permitted to be exported subject to the export sample being tested and production of certificate of analysis issued by government laboratories.