AYUSH plans new dept to test drugs
By Nozia Sayyed, Pune Mirror | Oct 10, 2015, 02.30 AM IST
No tests in the last five years, FDA and dept officials blame one another
While Ayurveda is increasingly been seen as an alternative healing process across the country, the medicines being consumed have not been tested for the past five years.
While the department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), has proposed to start its own drug control department, similar to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, currently, there is a major blame game going on between AYUSH officials from Delhi and Maharashtra and authorities from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Both sides feel that it is the other's responsibility to conduct tests.
Dr Manoj Nesari, adviser, Ayurveda, AYUSH, India, confirmed that the ministry has proposed a whole new department to test Ayurveda drugs, which will also be called DGCI. When asked why the drugs were not tested for so many years, he said, "The individual states are responsible for sampling and testing. However, to overcome this loophole, we plan to initiate a new department so that we are not dependent on FDA or other, similar authorities."
The new department will not only test the drugs, but ensure they are not marketed until they have been passed by DGCI, Nesari added.
Elaborating on how the new department will function and on its progress, another adviser, for Ayurveda, Departmant of AYUSH, Dr DC Katoch, said, "The idea was proposed three months ago, but we haven't got the go-ahead yet. We are still awaiting a formal reply from the ministry and hence cannot reveal too many details."
When state AYUSH director Dr Kuldeep Kohli was asked about drug collecting and contaminated medicines doing the rounds, he said, "Drug testing is totally FDA's responsibility. They should be keeping an eye on the sub-standard and contaminated Ay-urvedic drugs. We don't have the requisite facilities, so we cannot be blamed if Ayurveda medicines that are being consumed are not tested. We have not received any communication from the FDA in many years regarding testing Ayurveda products."
However, Maharashtra FDA joint commissioner for drugs, S Sadhwani, denied the allegation, saying, "We have been collecting and testing samples and have filed cases against people who are selling contaminated or low-quality Ayurveda medicine." When asked how many such cases had been filed and how many samples of Ayurveda drugs tested in the last five years, he said he could not remember.
By Nozia Sayyed, Pune Mirror | Oct 10, 2015, 02.30 AM IST
No tests in the last five years, FDA and dept officials blame one another
While Ayurveda is increasingly been seen as an alternative healing process across the country, the medicines being consumed have not been tested for the past five years.
While the department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), has proposed to start its own drug control department, similar to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, currently, there is a major blame game going on between AYUSH officials from Delhi and Maharashtra and authorities from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Both sides feel that it is the other's responsibility to conduct tests.
Dr Manoj Nesari, adviser, Ayurveda, AYUSH, India, confirmed that the ministry has proposed a whole new department to test Ayurveda drugs, which will also be called DGCI. When asked why the drugs were not tested for so many years, he said, "The individual states are responsible for sampling and testing. However, to overcome this loophole, we plan to initiate a new department so that we are not dependent on FDA or other, similar authorities."
The new department will not only test the drugs, but ensure they are not marketed until they have been passed by DGCI, Nesari added.
Elaborating on how the new department will function and on its progress, another adviser, for Ayurveda, Departmant of AYUSH, Dr DC Katoch, said, "The idea was proposed three months ago, but we haven't got the go-ahead yet. We are still awaiting a formal reply from the ministry and hence cannot reveal too many details."
When state AYUSH director Dr Kuldeep Kohli was asked about drug collecting and contaminated medicines doing the rounds, he said, "Drug testing is totally FDA's responsibility. They should be keeping an eye on the sub-standard and contaminated Ay-urvedic drugs. We don't have the requisite facilities, so we cannot be blamed if Ayurveda medicines that are being consumed are not tested. We have not received any communication from the FDA in many years regarding testing Ayurveda products."
However, Maharashtra FDA joint commissioner for drugs, S Sadhwani, denied the allegation, saying, "We have been collecting and testing samples and have filed cases against people who are selling contaminated or low-quality Ayurveda medicine." When asked how many such cases had been filed and how many samples of Ayurveda drugs tested in the last five years, he said he could not remember.
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