TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Directorate of Food and Drug Administration has asked all pharmacists to withdraw all stocks of the drug Pioglitazone, generally prescribed for diabetic patients, which has been recently banned by the Government of India. Flupenthixol + Melitrance and Analgin and all formulations containing Analgin have also been banned.
“The Government of India has banned this drug with immediate effect and has issued instructions to withdraw it from all pharmacies. This is because of now well established and unacceptable risks (which the drug poses) to the heart; and the action taken is with the best interests of the patient in mind,” said a statement released jointly by the Indian Medical Association, the FDA and the Indian Pharmaceutical Association.
The drug prescribed for diabetic patients, is marketed under various names singly (Pioz, Pio, etc) or in combination with other drugs (Glycomet GP2, Tribet, Pioz MF, etc).
Dr Gladstone D’Costa of the IMA and Salim Veljee director of the FDA and president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association, Goa State Branch have asked patients who are currently on the drug to visit their doctors and seek a revision of the prescription.