Case of DRUG ABUSE – Visakhapatnam
24-5-2008
I feel very perturbed about this incident. Visakhapatnam is known as a city where peace reigns and we are now witnessing incidents which indicate the presence of frustration and unhappiness among the people, especially among the youth.
The city’s police arrested the owner of Vaheeda Medical Shop in M.V.P. colony in Visakhapatnam on 24-5-2008, for possessing and selling addictive drugs to youth in an unauthorized manner.
As reported in our Eenadu;

Herbal Antidiabetics which are being widely circulated and are being prescribed by quacks have become a menace. They are not subjected to the rigorous quality control which allopathic medicines are subjected to. I don’t think they pass through clinical trials. There is no expected fall in glucose level which is authorized. I have seen people take these medicines; reduce their regular drugs and then suffer from a highly aggravated hyperglycemia.
Herbal drugs have values; but they need to go through clinical trials and then only they should be used. Otherwise they can be a menace.

Indian Pharmacy Course is UNIQUE

It has become customary for academicians, especially pharmacy academicians, especially after they return from a foreign tour to exclaim “Oh! The entire world is following one route and we are going by another! Everywhere pharmacy is a profession! A pharmacist is a respected member of the society who contributes immensely to the health of the society! But here in India, we are molding our pharmacy students into industrial laborers! How awful!”

I want to focus on the menace of spurious drugs in India. There are many angles to this problem. I want to discuss them one by one. I think, as intellectuals belonging to the field of medicines, we have a responsibility to help the world by being a think tank on issues such as the manufacture of spurious drugs in India. 

I.Brands in antibiotics, analgesics and anti-diarrheals are the preferred target segments by the fake manufacturers.

 So what can we do about it?

1. When we are purchasing these medicines we can be extra cautious.

Branded drugs and generic drugs

In India, for many people (including doctors, scientists and pharmacy professionals) there is confusion between generics and branded drugs. Actually almost all the medicines produced in India are generics. As per the strict definition, a branded medicine is the one which is produced by the innovator; and a generic medicine is the one which is an equivalent and which is produced by companies other than the innovator company. When seen from this angle, all medicines produced here are generic equivalents.

But many people in India claim they only prefer branded medicines and many doctors use brand names only in prescribing.

Desh Ke Liye Ziyo, Samaj Ke Liye Jiyo
Live for the country, Live for the society

These two Hindi lines are the beginning lines in a very sweet song I heard in Astha channel this week. The sweet music and the sweeter meaning have since been reverberating in my mind.
We are so much centered on our selves, on our families and on our relations that we can rarely spare a minute for the society in which we are a part. We seal ourselves into boxes that are tightly closed and cannot come out of them. And yet, it is only when we can come out of the box and think that we can see light, think clearly and act positively.
At the time of the freedom struggle a few lakhs of heroes led by super heroes like Gandhiji and Nehruji could redeem Mother India. In the wars that India fought since independence, again, a few lakhs of heroes led by courageous leaders could protect

  Great decision, Sanofi-aventis! Congratulations!

 Sanofi-aventis, a Paris based drug company, has really lived up to its slogan, "Because Health Matters ". In

E ORGANISATION – TRIPS – BIOPIRACY 

 WTO is the World Trade Organization, in which India has become a member in January, 1995. Among the different agreements that India signed, TRIPS, the Trade Related Issues of Intellectual Property Rights system  is a very important one and it is also something that generated a lot of controversy. In simple terms, it makes it obligatory on the part of all WTO member countries to protect intellectual properties rights, i.e. “inventions” through granting patents or a suo-generies system.

1. Novartis claims that huge efforts in terms of R&D work are involved in the "invention" of imatinib mesylate (a derivative) from imatinib (a base) and hence it deserves to be given a patent on imatinib mesylate for 20 years. Since Section3(d) precludes the granting of a patent on a derivative, which comes under "mere discovery of a new from of a known substance", it should be struck down, as per the contention of Novartis. But this argument is not fair.

NOVARTIS VS GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Importance of Section 3d of Indian Patent Act

Section 3 of Indian Patent Act defines what is not patentable. Section 3d gives out that the mere discovery of a new form of an old drug does not make it an invention. The section , as it is given in the Act is given below.