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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had banned the production, sale, and distribution of more than 300 Fixed Dose Combination Drugs (FDCs) last week, including the usually used painkiller Saridon. But earlier today, the Supreme Court overturned the prohibition on Saridon and two other drugs, which will now be made available in the market.
The central government stated that FDCs would be prohibited but the decision was scrapped at the time, even though many medical experts stated that excessive and unneeded use of FDCs can cause several health issues.
Last week, the ministry eventually banned 328 different FDCs, but the apex court has now retracted the ban on Saridon and two other drugs after the manufacturers of the drugs argued that they had been in production since 1980.
Related content: Health Ministry Bans Hundreds of Combination Drugs
Several reports suggested that many of the ingredients found in FDCs are safe individually but can have serious adverse effects when combined with other drugs. The National List of Essential Medicines lists only 16 FDCs, but hundreds of these drugs are available in the market.
Earlier, the ministry had stated that most of the FDCs available in the market contained ingredients with little to no therapeutic effect and that some even posed potential risks to health.
Several doctors agree that banning FDCs is essential, as many of them can be bought easily over the counter without a doctor’s prescription, rendering them potentially more harmful. Moreover, others agree that excess ingredients found in the combination drugs are often not needed.
However, despite all these inputs, FDCs have been popular largely due to their cost-effectiveness. Not only are the medications cheaper for consumers, but companies have found that it is much easier to combine two existing drugs than it is to create new products and manufacture the same.
By Sowmya Sangam
