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The Union health ministry will put on fast track the much delayed Drugs and
Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2005, stipulating stricter penalties for
manufacturing and selling spurious drugs and will move the bill in the
forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament. The bill has recently received the
Union Cabinet's nod.
Sources said the Union health
minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss is keen to operationalise the bill during the term
of this government itself. With political equations changing fast in the
national capital, the minister is learnt to be keen on the smooth passage of the
bill to ensure harsh punishment to those who resort to manufacture and sell
spurious drugs in the country.
Once the ministry gets the Parliament nod, it will issue a draft notification
asking the general public for suggestions and objections, if any, on the
proposal. After the expiry of this period, the ministry will act on the draft as
per the suggestions and objections before implementing the bill.
The proposed amendment is a landmark move as it stipulates
that those caught manufacturing and selling spurious drugs which are likely 'to
cause death or harm to the body as would amount to serious hurt, solely on
account of such a drug being administered' shall be punishable for a term which
shall not be less than 10 years but may extend to imprisonment for life.
The guilty will also be liable to pay a fine which shall not be less than Rs 10
lakh or three times the value of the drugs confiscated, whichever is more. At
present, the jail term for those involved in manufacturing and marketing
spurious drugs is five years with a fine of Rs 10,000, which usually goes into
the state's coffer. As per the new amendment, the fine paid by those found
guilty of producing and selling spurious drugs would go to the family of the
person who died after consuming the drug and not to the government.
Apart from specifying the relatives who will receive the compensation, the bill
also incorporates a provision for creating special courts to undertake speedy
trial of drug-related offences. It makes all drug-related offences cognisable
and non-bailable.
(Ref: Chronicle Pharmabiz dated 25 July 2008)
Dr Batra's Positive Health Clinic Pvt Ltd (DBPHCPL), the Mumbai-based
homeopathic healthcare corporate, has launched tele-homeopathic clinic to
connect its 25 clinics throughout 16 major cities in the country in Mumbai. The
company claims that the clinic is the first tele-homeopathic facility in the
world.
The tele-homeopathic clinic would provide medical consultation and data through
an easily accessible telecommunication network to offer better treatment to the
patients of Dr Batra's clinics and will enable connectivity between the patient,
consulting doctor and specialist through interactive video conferencing with
critical information and reports through online, according to Dr Mukesh Batra,
chairman and managing director of DBPHCPL.
The tele-homeopathy facility is launched in the new multi speciality clinic at
Mumbai and has currently connectivity to 25 clinics in various parts of the
country. The company is planning to expand the facility to all its 55 clinics
within the current financial year, added Dr Batra. "By introducing tele-homeopathy
we ensure patients get the finest medical aid that is both time and cost
effective," he said.
The company is planning to set up 10 more clinics in cities including Bangalore
and Goa freshly in this financial year. Apart, as the part of its international
operations, the DBPHCPL will set up clinics at Muscat within a month. "Each of
these clinics is estimated to come up with an investment of Rs 16 lakhs. In
Muscat, we are opening clinics through a joint venture with Lama Polyclinic. We
have also launched our company at London and the operations will start in the
city soon," said Dr Batra about the overseas plans.
The company is one of the few clinics having a customized patient database which
contains the patient's medical history and treatment details. The information
from the database is accessible from any branch of the company through out the
country. Earlier, the company also launched its cyber clinic to offer online
consultation and treatment to more than 4.5 lakh people from over 86 countries
every month.
(Ref: Chronicle Pharmabiz dated 24 July 2008)
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