Supreme Court upturns Government’s decision to ban Saridon and 2 other medicines

The Supreme Court has lifted the ban on saridon, piritron and dart drugs. The court has issued notice to the Central Government in this matter and sought the response. These drugs were named in the list of 328 medicines banned by the Central Government earlier in the month. The central government banned 328 fix dosage combinations (FDC drugs) in one stroke. FDC is the medicines that are made by mixing two or more drugs (salt). In most countries of the world, the use of these drugs has been banned. Many health organizations operating in the country have long been saying that these medicines are impact the health of patients and they can also be harmful. Organizations say that if the patient becomes allergic due to any medication, it will also be difficult to ascertain which salt has been allergic due to which of the medicine. In this way, it may be late for treatment of allergies.
It is noteworthy that earlier in March 2016, the Central Government had imposed restrictions on the production, sale and distribution of 344 FDC for the purpose of human use under Section 26-A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. After this, the government had banned five more FDC other than the 344 FDC listed under the same provisions. However, the affected producers or manufacturers had challenged this decision in various high courts and Supreme Court of the country. Following the directions given by the Supreme Court on December 15, 2017, the matter was considered by the Drugs Technical Advisory Board, which was formed under Section 5 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. This Board handed over its report to the Central Government on these drugs. The Drug Technical Advisory Board has, among other things, recommended that there is no medical justification of the material contained in 328 FDC and these FDCs can endanger human health.