Page 13 - Medicines

How govt's new rules on drug retailing will make your life safer and better

Making essential drugs easily available is important in a country like India, which has less than one doctor per 1,000 people

Govt plans to make commonly used drugs available at local retail outlets

This is expected to help people in rural and far-flung areas, where pharmacies are rare

Economic slowdown, unbranded generics growth pull down medicine sales

For April, the volumes in the Indian pharmaceutical markets grew by 2.8 per cent, compared to 5.2 per cent rise in prices

Govt plans to specify a unique colour code for generic medicines

With the generics market expanding, govt wants to visibly differentiate these from branded medicines

Trump's new proposal: Drugmakers may need to list medicine prices in TV ads

TV ads typically contain extensive warnings about a medicine's side effects, but not on price

Over 700 dietary supplements could have potentially harmful drugs: US study

Of the tainted products in the current study, 45.5% were marketed as aids for sexual enhancement, 40.9% for weight loss

Over 340 'irrational' drugs to go off shelves soon; many more under scanner

To hit Rs 20-bn market; 944 more fixed-dosage combination drugs under scanner

Selling medicines carefully

While DTC advertising is big business in the US, it is yet to gain favour in most parts of world

Herbal remedies or conventional medicines - Which is the safer bet?

284 adverse incidents for herbal medicines were reported compared with 26,129 for pharmaceuticals

HC quashes ban on 344 fixed dose combination medicines

The government had banned over 300 FDC drugs on the ground that they involve "risk" to humans

Story in numbers: Bitter Pill

Medicines continue to be out of reach ofss the poor, despite government promises that it would make the drugs cheaper

Letters: Matters of medicine

There are instances where traditional systems of medicine have come to the rescue where modern medicine couldn't. Speaking several years ago at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Prathap C Reddy, the founder of Apollo chain of hospitals, observed that 25 years from then, the present system of medicine would become an alternative system.He recounted interesting personal experiences to testify to the efficacy of alternative medicine. He said when his brother had a heart disease, allopathic doctors predicted he had only six weeks left to live; the Ayurvedic treatment his brother underwent in Kerala ensured his survival for 42 more years.Reddy recalled he had his fractured hand treated at the popular bone setting clinic in Puttur in Andhra ainiltyPradesh's Chittoor district. He also said the Rauwolfia Serpentina (Sarpagandha) was still the most trusted root by cardiologists.Ayurveda is already a hit in Russia, coming to the country following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, to treat

No permission given to hike drug prices beyond limits: Govt

The government has brought down the prices of 404 medicines under NLEM 2015 of the Drug Price Control Order 2013

126 drugs cheaper by over 40% as govt fixes ceiling

Prices of another 34 drugs has come down in the range of 35-40%