Panel to look into Drug Controller General of India's working meets

NEW DELHI: A three member committee comprising Dr V M Katoch, Secretary and DG, ICMR; Dr P N Tandon, president, National Brain Research Centre, Department of Biotechnology, Manesar; and Dr S S Aggarwal, former director, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow met today to look into the findings of the 59th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the functioning of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

Last month, the government monitoring body exposed major lapses regarding approval of medicines by authorities allegedly in connivance with drug makers. In a scathing report. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)'s, the apex drug regulatory body, violated drug regulatory laws allegedly in an "apparent nexus between the drug companies and regulatory officials," it said.

Among may other violations, it had said that one drug a month was approved by the DCGI without conducting mandatory Phase III trials in India to check a drug's efficacy and safety among Indians. It also charged that expert medical opinions were written by "invisible hands of drug manufacturers and experts merely signed them". The committee is expected to submit its report by next month.