Should Indian hospitals bar Ranbaxy drugs till all-clear sign received from regulators?

shantanu

Shantanu Datta | May 29, 2013



Days after pharma major Ranbaxy courted a soup to escape a soup – and agreed to pay a penalty of $500 million in the United States on charges of fraud – one Mumbai hospital has already put an embargo on drugs manufactured by the company, while several others are reportedly toying with the idea.

While Jaslok Hospital, a leading medical institution in south Mumbai, has already put up a notice advising its doctors to avoid prescribing Ranbaxy drugs, Medanta Medicity’s chairman and managing director Naresh Trehan has said the Gurgaon hospital will “discuss” and “review the situation”, the Business Standard reports.

According to the report, a senior official of Apollo Hospitals said the group was reviewing the situation and would take action, if necessary, while a senior official at Breach Candy, another leading Mumbai hospital, told the paper, “We will be able to give you some update tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association, which represents medical practitioners, has asked the Drug Controller General of India to investigate the quality of drugs manufactured and sold by Ranbaxy in India. (Read the report here).

Ranbaxy had to pay the penalty for selling adulterated drugs with intent to defraud and failing to report that its drugs failed to meet specifications, among other charges.

Under these circumstances, should hospitals and doctors follow Jaslok’s lead and voluntarily issue an embargo on Ranbaxy drugs till medicines manufactured by the company at its units in India get an all-clear signal?

Comments

 

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter