The phrase "knee-jerk reaction" used in the editorial dated March 18 rightly summarises the approach of the Union ministry of health and family welfare to the issue of fixed dose combinations. The Kokate Committee had done a scientific and thorough job of delineating this issue. However, the botch-up has been in the implementation of this report by the bureaucrats. This commercially sensitive issue has not been discussed properly by the authorities concerned. Nor has the industry been able to digest the show-cause approach. After the expert committee furnished its report, at least the relevant portions should have been made public first, and the ministry should have taken the industry into confidence and discussed the matter threadbare at various platforms.
There was no tearing hurry to impose a ban on the combination drugs. After all, the permission to market them was provided by the Union or state governments themselves. The ministry should have created a blueprint in consultation with all the stakeholders concerned to phase out the drugs or once again approve them based on new clinical data. Let us remember that there are companies whose survival is at stake and several jobs are on the chopping block due to the knee-jerk reaction.
Sunil S Chiplunkar, Bengaluru
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