We may not hereby walk into a medical shop and order `Vicks Action 500 Extra’ or a bottle of `Benadryl’ cough syrup. The government has banned these medicines for being irrational. The government sources claim that many drugs available in our country contain fixed-dose combination (FDC). It means that the pharmaceutical companies were producing drugs with combinations of their own choice. These combinations could lead to adverse reactions in the patients. Sometimes, these drugs might even lead to organ failure. But people often would be unable to pinpoint their illness to the side effects caused by these drugs. While the awareness levels of Indian consumers are low, the health ministry has now taken initiative to ban every suspicious drug in the country. Last week it has banned 344 drugs which are made of irrelevant FDC’s. And now, sources reveal that at least 500 more drugs might be banned soon. But it might face stiff protest from the pharmaceutical companies, which are wealthy as well as influential. Can the health ministry finish its job!

We may not hereby walk into a medical shop and order `Vicks Action 500 Extra’ or a bottle of `Benadryl’ cough syrup. The government has banned these medicines for being irrational. The government sources claim that many drugs available in our country contain fixed-dose combination (FDC). It means that the pharmaceutical companies were producing drugs with combinations of their own choice. These combinations could lead to adverse reactions in the patients. Sometimes, these drugs might even lead to organ failure. But people often would be unable to pinpoint their illness to the side effects caused by these drugs. While the awareness levels of Indian consumers are low, the health ministry has now taken initiative to ban every suspicious drug in the country. Last week it has banned 344 drugs which are made of irrelevant FDC’s. And now, sources reveal that at least 500 more drugs might be banned soon. But it might face stiff protest from the pharmaceutical companies, which are wealthy as well as influential. Can the health ministry finish its job!