Drugs

India-US working closely to address fentanyl challenge: US health official

India and the US share a robust working relationship on addressing the major challenge posed by fentanyl drugs, a top health official in the Biden administration has said. Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid primarily used as an analgesic. Since 2018, fentanyl and its analogues have been responsible for most drug overdose deaths in the US, causing over 71,238 deaths in 2021. The Biden administration launched a massive campaign on Thursday to educate young people about the dangers of fentanyl and the life-saving effects of Naloxone, a medicine that reverses opioid-related overdoses. India has been very enthusiastic working with the United States to address this (fentanyl problem) because it understands the significance at a global level of leadership," Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position which is popularly known as Drug Czar, told PTI. He said India is acting like a global leader when it comes to addressing the threat of synthetic

NPPA allows drug firms to raise prices of essential medicines from April 1

Effectively the prices of 651 medicines will come down by 6.73%; WPI-linked price rise allowed this fiscal is 12.2%; about 870 formulations fall under the essential category

Cap on essential drugs to help consumers save Rs 3,500 crore: Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said consumers will save around Rs 3,500 crore annually with the government capping the prices of the majority of essential medicines, hitting out at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. On Sunday Kharge had taken a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a reported hike in prices of some essential medicines, saying he has taken supari (contract) to pick pockets of the people. Rebutting the Congress leader's claims, in a series of tweets Mandaviya said the ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have already been notified by the government so far bringing down the cost of drugs under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). While tagging Kharge's Twitter handle, Mandaviya in a tweet said that so far, new ceiling prices of 651 out of 870 essential medicines have been notified. Due to this, the approved ceiling price of medicines has decreased by an average of 16.62 per cent. As a result, consumers will save a

Google AI-based tiny syringe to inject gene therapy, tumour-killing drugs

The researchers thought it might be possible to modify them to deliver proteins to human cells by re-engineering the tail fibres to bind to different receptors

Imported drugs for rare diseases to be exempt from customs duty

Normally, medicines attract a basic customs duty of 10%, while some life-saving drugs or vaccines attract a concessional rate of 5%, or are completely exempt from duties

Anti Narcotics Task Force seizes drugs worth Rs 16.68 cr in 6 months

ANTF DG said that during these operations, the team arrested 36 illegal drug dealers while recovering 13 vehicles, 1 illegal .32 bore pistol, and 9 live cartridges from the criminals

NCB destroys more than 9,200 kg narcotic substances across India

Home Minister Amit Shah also virtually joined from Bengaluru where he was chairing the NCB's Regional Conference on Drug Trafficking & National Security for Southern States and Union Territories

Ocean security must be strengthened as most drugs are shipped in Pak: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday security in the ocean needs to be strengthened as most of the drugs are shipped in Pakistan and go via Iran to Sri Lanka and Africa. Shah said drug control is not just the Centre's fight but of the states, societies and citizens. "At least 60-70 per cent of drug smuggling happens through the sea route", he said addressing the regional conference on 'Drug Trafficking and National Security' for southern States and Union Territories. "We need to have a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach sparing none who are involved in drug trafficking", the Minister said. "When we catch a big fry, we need to investigate the entire chain of networks down below. When we catch a drug addict, we need to investigate those who supplied them", he added.

Drugs worth Rs 400 cr seized by police in Mizoram, Assam; three arrested

Huge quantities of drugs valued at more than Rs 400 crore were seized from two neighbouring northeastern states Mizoram and Assam on Wednesday and three persons were arrested, officials said. The seizure of 39 lakh tablets of specific brands of decongestant and antihistamine worth Rs 390.4 crore was made from a house in east Mizoram's Champhai town bordering Myanmar. It is one of the biggest drug hauls made in the state, they said. Decongestants are a type of medicine that provides short-term relief for nasal congestion while antihistamine is commonly used to treat symptoms of allergies. A police officer said that heroin, estimated to be valued at over Rs 12 crore, was found in a car in Assam's Karimganj district. The Assam Rifles which conducted the raid in Mizoram along with the Customs department said in a statement that the consignment was sent from Aizawl to be delivered somewhere in Myanmar to make Methamphetamine tablets, which would have again smuggled to India. A ...

Drugs, liquor worth over Rs 6,400 cr seized in Gujarat in two years

Narcotic substances and liquor worth Rs 6,413 crore were seized in different parts of Gujarat in the last two years, the state government informed the legislative Assembly on Friday. Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi shared the data while responding to a set of questions by Congress MLAs during the Question Hour of the Assembly. As per the state government's data, the police seized liquor, both country made and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), worth Rs 212 crore in two years till December 2022. The seized liquor included IMFL bottles worth Rs 197.56 crore, country-made liquor worth Rs 3.99 crore and beer bottles worth Rs 10.51 crore, the data revealed. The authorities also seized drugs, such as heroin, charas, opium, cannabis and methamphetamine, worth Rs 6,201 crore from different parts of the state in the same period, Sanghavi said. While majority of criminals associated with this illegal trade had been already caught, nearly 3,700 accused are still at large, he ...

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Assam Police seizes 5 kg heroin worth Rs 20 crore, one arrested: Officials

Acting on a tip-off, the heroin was recovered from a vehicle during checking along the Assam-Nagaland border

India taking steps to counter manufacture of illegal synthetic drugs: INCB

INCB chief Jagjit Pavadia said, "India has witnessed the rise of commercial chemical factories that have been adapted to illicitly manufacture large quantities of synthetic drugs and their precursors"

Court orders jail for 2 Maiden Pharma execs for exporting substandard drugs

The company has denied its drugs were at fault for the deaths in Gambia and tests by an Indian government laboratory found there were no toxins in them

Must ensure medical products produced here are of top quality: Mandaviya

"Within the federal democratic structure of the country, both the Centre and states are required to work together in harmony and synergy to ensure that we establish robust regulatory systems," he said

Drugs worth Rs 33 crore among items seized ahead of polling in Meghalaya

Drugs worth Rs 33.24 crore, and Rs 8.63 crore in cash have been seized in Meghalaya where polling for the assembly elections will be held on Monday, the Election Commission said. Precious metals worth Rs 91 lakh, liquor of Rs 2.54 crore and different other items meant for distribution among voters worth Rs 27.37 crore were also seized by the law enforcement agencies, Chief Electoral Officer FR Kharkongor told PTI. "The total cumulative value of the seizure made since the model code of conduct came into effect on January 18 is Rs 72.70 crore," he said. The polling will be held for 59 seats of the 60-member assembly on Monday, and the votes will be counted on March 2. Polling for the Sohiong constituency in East Khasi Hills district was adjourned due to the death of UDP candidate HDR Lyngdoh.

No link between use of ranitidine and cancer risk: Nature study

Ranitidine has been in existence for over four decades and has been on the WHO list of essential medicines for several years

Former Ranbaxy, DRL exec Rajeev Raghuvanshi appointed as new DCGI

Appointment comes at a time when India's pharma regulatory landscape is under the scanner

Sanitary napkins, diapers likely to be included in essential drugs list

Sub-committees were formed earlier to categorise medicines, medical devices, disposables, and other health and hygiene products according to how essential they are for healthcare

Drugs, cash valued at Rs 37 cr seized in pre-poll raids in Nagaland

Authorities in Nagaland have seized contraband and cash, valued at around Rs 37 crore, since the announcement of the Assembly polls on January 18, officials said on Monday