No proper screening and approval process for medicines in India
Posted on: 19/Jul/2013 11:40:19 AM
The banning of anti diabetic drug pioglitazone has brought to light the bending of rules and the lack of a proper approval proposal in the system. The drug was banned by the Union Health Ministry last month as it causes bladder cancer. Incidentally, the drug has already been banned in France.
‘The country lacks a systematic approach and proper regulation when it comes to releasing a drug into the market or banning it. The decision to ban pioglitazone and its reversal shows there is no proper mechanism in place. Several drugs in the market today are there based on expert opinion from a few doctors in the country. When it comes to regulation of drugs, a lot of revamping has to be done… For a single drug, the trials, pricing and safety aspects are handled by different agencies. But we don`t have a single authority that co-ordinates everything’, say experts.
