If you’re taking combination medicines that claim to relieve fever, pain and allergies all at the same time, they may not be as effective, so earlier this week the government banned 156 fixed-dose combination drugs that mix active ingredients, including popular fever reducers such as Cheston Cold and painkillers such as Foracet.
The Ministry of Health, through a notification, has banned these drugs with immediate effect, saying the combination of these drugs is irrational and has no therapeutic benefit.
What drugs are prohibited?
among them Prohibited Substances There are some enzyme combinations used to treat gastrointestinal problems, some anti-allergy drug combinations, and some combinations used to treat skin disorders.
The banned substances include levocetirizine in combination with common anti-allergy medications such as nasal decongestants, mucolytic syrups and paracetamol, as well as antibiotics in combination with acne creams or iodine solutions.
Supplement combinations include menthol and aloe vera, aloe vera with vitamin E in the form of a medicated soap, silver sulfadiazine, a burn medicine that contains an antiseptic, aloe extract and vitamins, and calamine lotion, which contains aloe and a natural substance that treats skin inflammation.
The list also includes a combination of a migraine medication and an anti-nausea medication; mefenamic acid, normally used for menstrual pain, combined with the common anti-fibrotic drug tranexamic acid; and sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, combined with a drug that relaxes blood vessels and muscles.
What is a fixed dose combination?
Fixed-dose combination drugs are medicines that contain two or more active ingredients in one tablet, capsule, or injection. These combination drugs can help people with diseases like tuberculosis or diabetes take fewer pills, but they also give patients ingredients they don’t need.
Why is the government banning these fixed-dose combinations?
these The medicine was banned by the government. This is because they contain ingredients that don’t work well together or that patients don’t normally need to take together.
Most of the currently banned medicines were approved by state licensing authorities without conducting combination studies as the ingredients were approved separately. “The New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019, specify that fixed-dose combinations will be considered as new drugs and require approval from the Central Drugs Regulatory Authority. This has helped in reducing the number of these irrational combinations available in the market,” a senior health ministry official said.
What will happen to medicines on the market?
The government notification states that companies that manufacture these 156 drugs must immediately stop manufacturing, storing and selling them, although the medicines may remain available in the country for some time. “After receiving such an order, the companies usually approach the court, which then allows them to sell stocks already in the market,” the official said.
