Amlodipine & perindopril, amlodipine & indapamide, and perindopril & indapamide achieved blood pressure control in 70 percent of patients to less than 140/90 mm Hg in six months.
The medical rationale behind fixed-dose combination drugs soon gave into commercial interests that cared little for the health of patients. Government's only response has been to keep issuing ban orders since 1983.
Study by researchers from UK, India & Qatar was published this month, suggests unapproved fixed-dose combination drugs should be withdrawn and no longer manufactured.
Combination of enmetazobactam, invented by scientists associated with Chennai-based pharma firm Orchid Pharma in 2008, and antibiotic cefipime is used to treat severe bacterial infection.
Following December notice prohibiting combination of chlorpheniramine maleate & phenylephrine hydrochloride, CDSCO has ‘decided to rope in paediatricians to review other permitted FDCs’.
Popular brands using combinations under the scanner include D Cold Total and Dolo Cold. The five FDCs are part of 344 drug combinations that the government had first banned in 2016.
Govt’s moves to curb irrational fixed-dose combinations may have been insufficient & lack enforcement, say researchers. Study published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice.
The NPPA observations came this week as it took up applications to fix the prices of 34 new drugs, most of which were fixed-dose combination medicines or drug cocktails.
The safety of these fixed drug combinations will be monitored regularly and any failure on the manufacturers' part to submit a periodic safety update will be deemed illegal.
This special edition of Cut The Clutter, straight from the Siliguri corridor, details the strategic importance of the narrow strip of land in West Bengal, and how it’s a vital link connecting the Northeast to the rest of India.
We now live in a world order that will keep shifting. India must use this window. This also means we remain disciplined enough not to be knee-jerked into reacting to what Pakistan sees as its moment in the sun.
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