The government has planned changes in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act to make morphine easily available for use in patients.
This comes in the wake of concerns that stringent regulations on the narcotic pain reliever bars access to it for those suffering from serious diseases such as cancer and HIV.
“We will soon send our suggestions to the department of revenue for amendments to the Act, so that the procurement process is made easier for those needing morphine-based drugs for treatment,” a health ministry official said. These are expected to be sent soon.
Morphine sulphate is a by-product of opium and used in painkillers for terminally ill patients suffering from cancer and HIV. India is one of the few countries that allow planting of poppy seeds, from which opium is derived. While the idea behind excessive regulations is to prevent misuse of the substance through drug abuse or illicit trafficking, the norms have resulted in severely constrained supplies of the drug in local hospitals and chemist shops.
“Morphine falls under Schedule X (of the Drugs Act) hand, therefore, you need various licences to keep it, including a special licence from the local drug controller. Besides, chemists have to maintain duplicate copies of the prescription when they sell it. No one wants to get into so much of hassle when the profits are very low,” says C M Gulati, editor, Monthly Index of Medical Specialities.
A source said there was a possibility that the government would reduce the number of required licences for manufacturing and selling morphine, but only for pharmaceutical use.
According to the Drugs Controller of India, G N Singh, the health ministry has no limitations for making the drug available for treatment. “We have no problems. We want to simplify the process for those who are needy. It should be easily accessible for treatment. Changes to this effect will be made very soon,” he said.
Some experts suggest that pharmaceutical companies are not much willing to sell morphine, as the margins are very low, while the hassles are many. There are other drugs such as pethidine , tramadol and pentazocine available for prescription in pain relief.
“The other drugs can be given for various indications, whereas morphine is prescribed only in terminal cases,” Gulati said.
