Antibiotics pose environmental risks

LONDON: Although antibiotics prevent bacterial infections, they may adversely harm microbes that are essential to a healthy environment, a study has warned.This may in its turn significantly impact people’s lives around the world, it said. When people take antibiotics, their bodies break down and metabolise only a portion of the drugs. The rest is excreted and enters wastewater. As wastewater treatment plants are not designed to fully remove antibiotic or other pharmaceutical compounds, many of these compounds reach natural systems where they could accumulate and harm the “good” microbes.That’s a…

Read More

Combiflam, D Cold Total found substandard by drug regulator: Report

India’s top drug regulator has reportedly found common medication such as Combiflam, D Cold Total and Oflox-100 DT to be substandard in tests run last month. Posted By Divya Chopra The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, which regulates the sale and distribution drugs in India, has reportedly found popular medication like Combiflam, a pain reliever, and D Cold Total, a cold medicine, to be substandard. Comiflam is manufactured by Sanofi India while D Cold Total is made by Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare India. The Indian Express reported that the CDSCO conducted…

Read More

Pharma firm lures doctors with gold coins to push its vaccines

MUMBAI: Pharma firms may be banned from offering incentives to doctors to push their products, but at the annual conference of paediatricians being held in Bengaluru, a flyer carrying ‘Sankranti bonanza’ is doing the rounds, offering items like digital weighing scales, gold coins and stethoscope as gifts for doctors ordering vaccines in bulk for diseases like typhoid and rota virus. While the flyer doesn’t mention the name of any pharmaceutical company, a doctor said it was found only at the booth of one pharmaceutical company. The meeting’s chief organiser, however,…

Read More