Supreme Court restrains govt from banning 15 combination drugs

The companies argued that the Supreme Court in its December 2017 order had referred 329 drugs to the DTAB for further review

Fifteen fixed-dose combination drugs (FDCs) including cough syrups Phensedyl and Tixylix will not be banned. The Supreme Court on Friday restrained central government from acting on panel recommendations to restrict the sale of those FDCs which were approved prior to 1988.

The apex court order came in response to pleas by Abbott and Laboratories Griffon which argued that the recommendation to include fifteen pre 1988 approved FDCs in the ban list was against the court order.

The drug technical advisory board (DTAB) in July accepted the recommendations of an expert panel which was appointed to probe efficacy of 349 FDCs.