A news article in today’s ET says, Nimesulide mkt sees negative growth (what on earth is negative growth, please ? Is there no end to the stupidization of business lingo?) After months and months of debate and committees, no strict Government warning has been enforced with respect to Nimesulide.
Nimesulide has been known to cause toxicity in the liver in children. However, there has so far been no evidence to prove similar effects among adults.
Introduced in Italy in the early 80’s, there was a precaution issued by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Union against the drug. The US FDA and UK MCA have not approved of Nimesulide for marketing in the US and UK markets. However, in India, this drug has been marketed by Dr.Reddy’s Labs and Alembic till now.
The Government turns a blind eye towards most things including dumping of electronic items and contamination of food and drinks….. But this lackadaisical attitude towards medicines…. ? Nimesulide is only the latest in this list… Baralgan and Brufen (in some combinations) are only two other such OTC (over-the-counter) pain-killers which were sold for years and years in India before they have been banned finally…..
Just as an aside, these drugs are not available in the West without a doctor’s prescription, but here in India, it is possible to buy the strongest of them such as Spasmo-proxyvon (a much-abused drug) over the counter.
Who is to blame ? Our third world status which merits such hand-me-down medicines ? The greedy medical companies ? Our indifferent Government ? Or the ignorant public ? Any way you see it, it stinks….