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The Karnataka government has decided to make term insurance mandatory for all doctors, officers and staff under the Medical Education and Skill Development Department, Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said on Sunday. Patil, in charge of medical education portfolio, said the decision follows the death of IAS officer Mahantesh Bilagi in a road accident last month, in which a technical oversight resulted in his family receiving nearly Rs 50 lakh less than the entitled amount. "The issue came to notice during a governing council meeting of a medical college, where it was found that the officer had not updated his service status in the term insurance system after being promoted from the State Civil Services to the IAS," Patil said in a statement. He added that the lapse had financial consequences for the bereaved family. Taking serious note of the matter, Patil said he had directed the Additional Chief Secretary to issue a circular mandating all medical college and hospital doctors, office
A parliamentary committee on Monday raised serious concerns about the country's capability to test and regulate radiation-emitting medical devices, urging immediate reforms in the national testing infrastructure. The Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution revealed significant gaps in the testing framework for critical medical equipment like X-ray and MRI machines in its fifth report submitted to Parliament. The National Testing House (NTH) currently lacks the expertise and capacity to comprehensively test and certify radiation-emitting medical devices, despite existing regulatory oversight from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). The committee recommended establishing a collaborative framework between NTH, AERB, and CDSCO to address the identified regulatory shortcomings. Key recommendations include developing specialised testing capabilities at NTH, investing in advanced testing ...
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on Monday said it is prioritising development of standards for 214 critical medical devices, which are set for phased completion by December 2025. These devices, which include septal closure devices, plasma sterilizers, and phototherapy machines, are in line with the National Medical Device Policy, 2023 and have been identified in consultation with Department of Pharmaceuticals. BIS, in a statement, said the national standards body is developing standards for innovative products such as therapeutic footwear, portable ramps, braille displays, and fall detectors, which support individuals with disabilities. BIS has published over 1,700 standards for the medical sector, covering specialities such as cardiology, neurology, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, and more. Of these, around 1,200 standards specifically focus on medical devices critical to healthcare. BIS standards in this sector ensure that Indian medical devices are safe, effective, and globall
The government has notified a uniform code for marketing practices for the medical device industry in order to curb unethical practices. In a notification, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has asked the medical devices association to prohibit organising workshops abroad for healthcare professionals, offering them hotel stays or monetary grants. "All associations should constitute an ethics committee for marketing practices in medical devices (ECMPMD), upload it on their websites along with a detailed procedure of complaints, which will be linked to the UCPMP portal of Department of Pharmaceuticals," the notification said. The DoP has also sought disclosures form medical devices firms for particulars related to distribution of evaluation samples and expenses incurred on conferences , workshops, seminars etc. As part of the code, a medical device must not be promoted prior to receipt of product approval by the regulatory authority, the notification said. "The word safe or safet
India has been recognised as the "pharmacy of the world" and it is now time for India to become the leader in the manufacturing of affordable, innovative and quality medical devices, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday. Mandaviya, during his inaugural address at 'India MedTech Expo 2023', underlined that India is the fastest-growing medical devices market among the emerging markets. 'India MedTech Expo 2023' was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on the sidelines of the G20 Health Ministers' meeting. Mandaviya said that 'MedTech Expo 2023 draws inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India atmanirbhar or self-reliant. "It will be a unique, all-encompassing platform to showcase the strength and potential of the Indian Medical Devices ecosystem," the health minister said. "Our goal is to become self-reliant in the medical device sector and reduce our import dependency which also perfectly aligns with our vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', and 'Mak