Pharmaceuticals : Ignoring Institutions

Ignoring Institutions IT is of course commendable that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been investigating a complaint by the Himachal Pradesh State Human Rights Commission about the supply of fungally contaminated largesize intravenous fluid packs to the Indus Hospital in Shimla. It is even more satisfactory that the commission set up an expert panel to go into the matter which undertook its job seriously and submitted its report within the allotted time. On the basis of this report the NHRC has last month recommended that the central government revamp the entire system of licensing new product approvals, certification and quality control checks, etc. No doubt the authority of the NHRC is such that its directive will be taken seriously. The point, however, is why, given the numerous authorities involved with drug licensing and quality control, it was thought necessary to move the NHRC.