SC asks whether it can look into Par panel report on vaccines

The Supreme Court, hearing a plea seeking quashing of licenses of two cervical cancer vaccines, today sought to know whether it could venture into the executive's domain by looking into a Parliamentary Standing Committee report on the vaccines and clinical trials.
A bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, sought the assistance of parties on the legal question and also asked the government to produce records to show the action it has taken on the recommendations of the 81st report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare.
The recommendations dealt with the issue of drugs relating to Human Papilloma Virus vaccine and the parliamentary panel's criticism on the manner in which the vaccines were introduced and administered on minor girls in India.

The bench has now posted the matter for further hearing on January 20 next year.
The two drugs in question are Gardasil and Cervarix, manufactured by Merck Sharpe and GlaxoSmithKline respectively.
Earlier, the court had asked the government to ensure that express consent is taken in a transparent manner from persons on whom clinical trials are carried out.

It had also asked the Drugs Controller General to produce files relating to issues like the procedure of taking consent of persons on whom clinical trials of such vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, have been carried out.
The bench had said there has to be a proper system in place to ensure that persons, who suffer adverse effects of such vaccination, were awarded compensation.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for thr Drugs Controller, had informed the court that of the 60,000 persons who were administered the vaccines, seven have died. But the cause of deaths were different and unconnected with the vaccination, he had added.
He had also told the court that the government has amended the rules relating to taking consent of the persons undergoing clinical trial of a medicine or a vaccination.
The bench had said it had to examine whether proper protocol and procedure was followed for introduction of these vaccines because it has been alleged that deaths have also been caused.

The apex court was hearing a PIL seeking to quash the licences of the two vaccines for cervical cancer treatment, claiming that the approval for their use was granted without adequate research on safety.