Page 206 - Health Medical Pharma
Torrent Pharma recalls Losartan hypertension tablet in US
Indian pharmaceutical major Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd is voluntarily recalling two lots of Losartan potassium tablets -- used to treat hypertension -- in the US market due to detection of traces of unexpected impurity, the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) said.
President Kovind to visit Rashtrapati Nilayam in Telangana for annual southern sojourn
President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Secunderabad in Telangana for his annual southern sojourn at Rashtrapati Nilayam from December 21-24.On December 22, 2018, the President will visit the Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences in Karimnagar to inaugurate the Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Anaemia, Thalassemia and other Genetic Blood Disorders.While on December 23, he will host a reception for senior dignitaries of the State, Ministers, officials, leading citizens, academics, etc. at the Rashtrapati Nilayam in Secunderabad.
J&J loses bid to have $4.7 billion talc verdict set aside, vows to appeal
(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson failed to persuade a Missouri trial judge to set aside a July verdict awarding a record $4.69 billion to 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in the company's Baby Powder and other talc products.
Zika infection under control: Rajasthan government
Rajasthan government has said that Zika infection is under control in the state and no positive cases of Zika virus have been reported or found in the state after October 28."In the state the situation is under control and no cases of Zika virus infection have been found to be positive after October 28," said the Medical, Health and Family Welfare Department of Rajasthan in a statement.Rohit Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, Medical, Health and Family Welfare Department, held a meeting with the officials and senior doctors on Thursday and informed that the strain of Zika virus is a general strain which is harmless.The disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, which bite during the day. Symptoms are generally mild and include fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or a headache. Symptoms typically last for two to seven days.After the outbreak of Zika virus in Rajasthan in October the state government took precautionary measures to ...
DCGI restricts J&J to use talc raw material for production till further orders
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Thursday has ordered Johnson and Johnson not to use talc raw material from its two units in India for production till further direction.
Ensure Isotretinoin is sold by retailers on prescription by dermatologists only: DCGI
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has asked drugs controllers in all states and Union Territories to ensure that Isotretinoin, used to treat severe cystic acne, is sold by retailers on prescription of dermatologists only. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), in a communique, said the packets containing the drug should carry a box warning stating 'this medicine may cause severe birth defects; you must not take this medicine if you are pregnant or may likely become pregnant during treatment' and 'you should also avoid pregnancy for six months after stopping the treatment'. The patients should also sign a consent form before "undertaking the treatment of Isotretinoin" as already stipulated. The communique stated the conditions should be followed during manufacture, sale and distribution of the drug as already stipulated by the CDSCO at the time of approval of the oral drug. Isotretinoin capsule 10mg/ 20mg was approved by CDSCO on June 21, 2002, for ...
Industry to discuss various critical issues during pharma event
The pharmaceutical industry would deliberate on various issues related to generic drugs and medical devices at 70th edition of Indian Pharmaceutical Congress (IPC) at Amity University, Noida, from December 21-23. The event will see 125 speakers and organisers expect around 6,000 delegates this year from all the sections of the pharma fraternity from India as well as abroad. "For the past 70 years, the meeting of minds at each edition of IPC has played a significant role in what we have achieved today," Organising Secretary of local organising committe of the event Atul Nasa told reporters here. The discourses at the event will not only bring broad consensus across industry but also will help the industry map the way ahead, he added. He added that over the three days industry stakeholders would deliberate upon important topics retaled to APIs, generic formulations, diagnostics and medical devices and biosimilars. Other key issues that would be discussed include the need for adequate ...
Altria takes stake in Juul e-cigarettes for $12.8 bn
US tobacco giant Altria, maker of major brands such as Marlboro and Chesterfield, announced Thursday that it will buy a 35 percent stake in popular e-cigarette maker Juul for $12.8 billion. The investment gives Juul a valuation of $38 billion -- more than twice its current value of $16 billion. "We are taking significant action to prepare for a future where adult smokers overwhelmingly choose non-combustible products over cigarettes," said Altria CEO Howard Willard. "We have long said that providing adult smokers with superior, satisfying products with the potential to reduce harm is the best way to achieve tobacco harm reduction. Through Juul, we are making the biggest investment in our history toward that goal." E-cigarettes expose users to significantly lower levels of potentially toxic substances, except for nicotine, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said this year. Converting conventional cigarette smokers to vaping would therefore reduce the ...
Doctors at Medica Hospital remove tumour from an old man's sinonasal cavity
Jiban Kumar Das, a 74-year-old man, got his life back when the doctors at Medica Hospital removed a large nasal mass. The miraculous surgery was completed within 45 minutes and that too under local anaesthesia, especially when the patient was close to a heart failure condition. He had already underwent nasal surgery thrice before this, but every time the mass would grow again!Most other hospitals had either refused the patient, and a few others had said the patient might die during the surgery, as recalled by the family members of the patient. When they were almost losing hope, they were told by one of their relatives to come to Medica as the last option. The patient reported with respiratory distress coupled with cough, as recalled by the ENT team.Immediately, Echo screening and CT scan were done; he was put on conservative management and the ENT team advised him to undergo an endoscopy, which revealed a tumour. Thankfully, the notorious nasal tumour in the nose was a benign tumour ..
Decorative ceramics wares in your homes may raise cancer risk
Love to decorate your homes with ceramics wares and glass painting? Beware, they may contain high levels of cadmium that can raise the risk of cancer, warns researchers.
Prez on 4-day southern sojourn from December 21
President Ram Nath Kovind will be reaching Secunderabad on Friday for a four-day southern sojourn during which he will inaugurate a Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Anaemia and other genetic blood disorders at a medical institute. During his visit, he will stay at the Rashtrapati Nilayam, a single-storied building located at Bolarum which serves as Presidential Retreat. The President will visit the Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences in Karimnagar to inaugurate the Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Anaemia, Thalassemia and other Genetic Blood Disorders on December 22, an official release said. He will also host an 'At Home' reception at the Rashtrapati Nilayam for senior dignitaries of the state, ministers, officials, leading citizens and academics on December 23. The Rashtrapathi Nilayam building was taken over from the Nizam of Hyderabad after India attained independence and handed over to the President's Secretariat. Constructed during 1860, the Nilayam has a total land ..
India's growth dependent on growth of India's Health Sector: N. K. Singh
Finance Commission reviews India's Health Sector
High level of heavy metals found in urine samples post-Diwali: CPCB
High level of heavy metals, including lead, was found in the urine samples of many patients due to direct or indirect exposure to firecrackers post-Diwali last year, according to the Central pollution Control Board. Heavy metals can pose serious health threats. Heavy metal toxicity can damage central nervous, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. According to a study conducted by the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health in 2017, on direction of the CPCB, there was excessive watering, redness and burning sensation in the eyes postDiwali among the sample groups. The study, made public on December 19 this year, by the CPCB in compliance with the Supreme Court order that directed it to publish on its website all studies since 2010 relating to ill-effects of pollution on the health of citizens had interviews of 470 subjects for the post-Dusshera period and 787 subjects in the post-Diwali period in Pitampura, Kotla, Siri Fort and Parivesh Bhawan areas. Out of the 20 ...
Safer potential Zika vaccine discovered
Researchers have identified a potential vaccine that may defend against Zika virus without producing antibodies. Many reports show that antibodies against Zika virus can worsen dengue virus infection, which, like Zika, is caused by a mosquito-borne virus, said researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the US. This phenomenon is referred to as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of disease. This has been an obstacle to the development of effective and safe dengue virus vaccines. "If you have immunity to one of these viruses and get infected by a second one, the illness can be much worse," said Eric Weaver from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "The body makes the wrong immune response," Weaver said. First discovered in Uganda's Zika Forest in 1947, the virus initially was believed to cause only mild or asymptomatic infection in humans. However, outbreaks in Brazil in 2015 and 2016 resulted in higher than historical rates of congenital birth defects in babies born to ...
Amway India Launches the 'Power of 5' Campaign to Address Childhood Malnutrition in India
/ -- Globally, the 'Power of 5'* has been benefiting over 1 lakh children in around 23 countries every year In India, Amway aims to educate mothers to positively impact around 10,000 children below 5 years during the campaign's pilot year Amway has partnered with MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child to educate mothers and caregivers on the significance of nutrition during the most crucial first 5 years in children Amway India, the country's largest FMCG direct selling company, today launched the 'Power of 5' campaign to address the rising problem of malnutrition among children in India. In line with Amway's vision of helping people live better lives, the Power of 5 is a community-based campaign targeted at mothers and caregivers of children under the age of 5 years. The campaign aims to improve the nutritional knowledge and practices inclusive of complementary feeding, hygiene practices, growth monitoring and dietary diversity. The campaign further aims to identify and ...
SHRC issues notice to SMC's Dy Mayor for misbehaving with doctor
Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) Thursday issued a notice to deputy mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Sheikh Imran Ahmad for his alleged misbehaviour with a doctor at a government-run hospital here early this week. Taking suo moto cognizance of media reports about the deputy mayor's alleged misbehaviour with Dr Randeep Singh, the SHRC directed Ahmad to file his response by December 26. "It is well settled that exercising powers by any authority which are not available to him in law amount to breaking of rule of law and as such violation of human rights. "The reports prima facie suggest that deputy mayor's remarks/comments were humiliating to members of very respectable and notable profession," the commission observed while issued the notice to deputy mayor. In a video, that has become viral, the deputy mayor is seen using aggressive and unparliamentary language with the doctor on duty at Chest Diseases Hospital at Drugjan here on Tuesday. The deputy ..
Facebook advertising can bring awareness about cancer prevention
Social media, specifically Facebook, could be a way to reach people living in areas where information about cancer prevention might otherwise be lacking, suggests a study.
Study uncovers improved stem-cell uses
A faster, more cost-efficient, and more accurate method of examining the effectiveness of human pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiac muscle cells has been discovered, according to a new study.The study found that human embryonic stem cells can be induced to produce other types of human cells through stem cell differentiation. The researchers looked at cardiac muscle cells -- cardiomyocytes (CMs).The aim of the research was to use these cells to treat cardiac conditions, but first, the researchers determined the cell's functionality through characterization, which involved examining that how well the cells were modified, and whether or not they are mature, functioning CMs.The findings of the study are published in the Journal of iScience."CMs derived from hPSCs hold tremendous promise for cell-based therapies for heart diseases, nevertheless, current methods for CM characterization cause undesirable impacts on the cells' functionality and are expensive and time-consuming," says ...
DCGI orders J&J not to use talc raw material for any production till further orders
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has ordered Johnson and Johnson not to use talc raw material from its Mulund plant in Mumbai and Baddi unit in Himachal Pradesh for any production till further directions. On the directions of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), drug inspectors collected samples of Johnson and Johnson's baby powder from both the plants on Wednesday, amid reports that the product allegedly contained cancer-causing asbestos. Besides, over 100 samples were collected from wholesalers, retailers and distributors across the country, which will be tested to see if these complied with all prescribed regulatory and manufacturing standards and also for the presence of asbestos. A CDSCO official said according to the protocol, the manufacturer is "supposed to test for absence of asbestos" for all batches of talc raw material procured. "It is learnt that the manufacturer is not testing for absence of asbestos for all batches of talc raw material ...
Obama dons a Santa hat, hands out gifts to sick children in D.C. hospital
Barack Obama, donning a Santa Claus hat and a bulging sack slung over his shoulder, made a surprise visit to a children's hospital here and delivered gifts to young patients ahead of Christmas. The former US president visited the young patients at the Children's National Hospital in Washington on Wednesday. First on his list was a group of patients 4 and up who were making snowflakes in one of the hospital's playrooms, The Washington Post reported. The 57-year-old handed out jigsaw puzzles Hot Wheels sets, remote-control cars, and glittery nail polish, among other goodies collected by Obama and his staffers. "I just want to say thank you to all of you guys," Obama told the hospital staff, who greeted him with rapturous cheers, in a video he shared on his Twitter account. "We've had the chance to talk to some of the wonderful kids and their families," he said in the video, which has gone viral with over 242,000 likes. "As the dad of two girls, I can only imagine in that situation to ...