Government bans 156 medicines including that of fever and high blood pressure
The central government banned 156 fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs on Thursday. These include antibiotics, painkillers, and multivitamin medications. The investigation found that these medicines pose a health risk. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued a notification completely banning the manufacturing, sale and distribution of these medicines.
Banned FDC drugs include antibiotics, anti-allergic, painkillers, multivitamins, and medications for fever and high blood pressure. The notice said that the decision has been taken following the recommendations of the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) and the expert committee constituted by the Central Government. The matter was investigated by an expert committee appointed by the Central Government and DTAB. In this, both the bodies recommended that there is no medical justification for the chemical added to the FDC. Major FDC drugs in the list also include mefenamic acid. These medicines are used to reduce pain and swelling in various conditions. Omeprazole magnesium and dicyclomine HCl supplements, it is used to treat stomach pain.
Other FDCs include a combination of ursodeoxycholic acid and metformin HCl. It is used to treat fatty liver in people with diabetes. As well as povidone iodine, metronidazole and aloe supplements are used for the prevention and treatment of skin infections. Major brands of ursodeoxycholic acid and metformin HCl FDC include Hepexa M tablets manufactured by Aris Lifesciences. Maxun Biotech’s McDin AM Ointment and MedCure Pharma’s Poviol M Ointment are commonly available examples of combined doses of povidone iodine, metronidazole and aloe.
The ministry said that the use of these FDCs is likely to pose a large risk to people, while safe alternatives to the medicine are available. The notice said that DTAB did not find the claims of these medicines to be true and decided that the harm caused to the patient by them was more than the benefit. Simultaneously the Ministry stated that it had therefore become necessary to ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of this FDC under section 26 a of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 in the public interest.
