Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Check the drugs before they’re sold in the market' that was published in Newsband

Check the drugs before they’re sold in the market

The Delhi High Court verdict quashed all notifications banning the manufacture and sale of 344 Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) drugs. The government wanted the ban on combination drugs that have little therapeutic value. However, the government could not convince the court that the ban was valid.

Yes, some combinations are unsafe and/or promote antibiotic resistance, while others lack particular therapeutic value, justification or advantage. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw chose to subject to scrutiny the process by which the decision was arrived at. He found that the government went about the process in a haphazard manner. The Kokate Committee was formed and based on its report, the Centre issued notifications banning these FDCs. The court objected to government having sought advice from a non-statutory committee instead of expert bodies

The government must have seen the ground realities. Many drugs comes as a relief for cough and cold, but it either stops the cold or the cough or neither but never both. This is a very common problem especially for paediatric drugs. Combination drugs are effective if the blood pressure of the individual is constant throughout with minimal variations. For individuals with nominally varying blood pressure, combination drugs are least effective and sometimes counter productive

By considering technicality alone as a reason to lift the ban on the FDC is not encourageable. It should consider all the reasons and take the advices from statutory bodies like Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) and Drug Consultative Committee (DCC). That would be good for health and lives of the people of the country.

There are many drugs sold in the market which are harmful and not adviced by eminent professional doctors. The pharmaceutical companies are manufacturing mist drugs to profit rather than protect the health of the people. The government must prove the companies intentions and check the utility of drugs sold in the market.

In a matter involving the health and lives of the people of the country, the HC may be wrong by going by the mere technicality in quashing the order. It is simply unfortunate that technical consideration should prevail over the real core issue. Probably the courts should have considered the core issue.