Thanks to a virtually ?absent? adverse drug reaction mechanism in the country, drugs like Analgin, Cisapride, Nimesulide, and Piperazine, discarded worldwide due to serious side effects, are among the bestsellers in India. According to a report of the World Health Organisation, there has not been a single instance of adverse drug reaction reported against any drug in the country.
The country has become a dumping ground for discarded drugs and the business of production of these drugs is booming. Some of the most common ones include Nise (Dr Reddy?s), Nimulid (Panacea Biotec) that are discarded for reported liver damage, while Vicks Action 500 from the stable of Procter and Gamble is discarded for increasing chances of brain haemorrhage. Anti-depressant drug Droperol (produced by Triokka) has been discarded for irregular heartbeats in patients, an industry expert told FE. Anti-diarrhoeal drug Furoxone (from the house of Glaxo) was withdrawn from the market after reports of cancer in some patients, who were administered the drug, editor, Monthly Index of
Medical Specialities, CM Gulati, said.
India?s contribution to the worldwide collection of data on the side effects of different drugs is dismal. Countries like Ireland, Switzerland and Italy, with a population of about 4 million, 33 million and 57 million, respectively, had submitted 25, 33, and 225 adverse drug reaction on nimesulide. However, India, with over 1 billion population did not report any. Another drug Sildenafil (erectile dysfunction drug) had 18 adverse drug reactions reported from Australia but none from India.
According to a health ministry source, monitoring of adverse drug reaction is not followed in the curriculum for medical students in India, and majority of doctors do not maintain records on patients.
Assessing adverse drug reaction is not an easy task and in a developed country like the US not more than 10% of the side effects are recorded, he added.