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Pharmacy experts and academicians welcomed the bold decision of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to ban the manufacturing and sale of 344 irrational combinations in domestic market. The pharmacy teachers who teach the efficacy and side effects of drugs say that the DCGI has taken the decision for the safety of the people of the country.
Dr Roop Narayan Gupta, professor at the Birla Institute of Pharmacy in Ranchi in Bihar said that the prohibition of 344 FDCs is a corrective and bold initiative of the central government as regards patients’ security. According to him, this ban will not make Rs.4000 crores loss to the market and will not affect the availability of drugs as there are alternative single ingredient drugs available in the market. The patients are now saved from unwanted side effects from drug combinations.
“The observation of drug resistance of antibiotics has been a serious threat to the patients since last three years. Medicines are like double edged sword as its right use saves lives but improper use results in side effects or even death of patients. We must congratulate our government for the bold step of banning such huge unwanted combinations of drugs. The DCGI has proven that the role of DCGI is to safeguard the health of the masses from drug menace. Both the Union health minister and the DCGI are custodians of the health of the people. Both are to be congratulated by the common masses,” said Dr RNG.
“Our government took 20 years to start banning such harmful drugs. After Thalodamide disaster in Britain in 1963, various countries started banning dangerous drugs and combinations but India did ban the first drug phenacetin and then amidopyrine in 1983. Tlll today about 88 drugs/combinations were banned after seeing adverse drug reactions. We teach pharmacists about drug safety and make them aware of drug safety and also about irrational combinations. So we support the step taken by the national drug regulator,” he added.
Dr. Atmaram Pawar, vice-principal & head of department of doctor of pharmacy, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University in Pune said, “We must analyse how such large number of irrational combinations got approval in the country. The state drug control officers or ADCs are having the power to approve these combinations. It has to be stopped. Anyway, the step taken by the DCGI to ban the FDCs is appreciable.”
Welcoming the decision of Dr. G N Singh, Dr K G Ravikumar, former head of department of pharmacy at the Medical College at Thiruvananthapuram said these irrational combinations should have banned earlier. He said, “I am congratulating the bold initiative of the DCGI.”
When asked about the loss of industry due to the ban, Dr. KGR said it should not be our concern, we should look at the health of the people. There are plenty of alternative drugs in the market, people will buy them for their use. Let the industry people manufacture rational drugs and they should be aware of the adverse reactions of the combinations.”
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