Miscellaneous

Ban on FDC drugs

September 5 , 2024 13 hrs 0 min 30 0

The Indian government has banned 156 fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs, including popular medicines such as Cheston Cold and Foracet.
FDCs are combinations of two or more known drugs in single-dosage form.
Since 2018, 328 such drugs were banned.
FDCs are meant for patients with conditions such as tuberculosis and diabetes for which they need to take multiple medicines regularly.
They reduce the number of pills the patient needs to take each day, and help improve adherence to the treatment.
The government set up a committee in 2014 to examine 3,450 FDCs approved for manufacture and sale in the country after 1988.
The committee found 963 drugs to be irrational, and suggested an immediate ban.
It also identified a set of FDCs which needed to be studied further.
Of these, 499 have been banned so far.