Notice to Centre on steroid misuse plea
The Delhi High Court (HC) on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre on a plea seeking directions to ensure that no topical medications containing a “cocktail of harmful steroids” are sold without a valid prescription. The steroids in question are used to treat several skin diseases.
The plea, filed by the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists, and Leprologists (IADVL), a leading official body of dermatologists and skin specialists, has questioned the misuse of topical corticosteroids, a class of drugs used to treat a variety of skin diseases.
The petition sought a ban on the manufacture and sale of several skin creams containing steroids, which are marketed for skin conditions such as pigmentation, itching, fairness, and inflammation.
It also sought an independent high-level inquiry into how the Central Drug Standards and Control Organisation (CDSCO) granted approval for the commercial manufacture, use, and sale of hazardous as well as irrational and unscientific steroid combinations, and an order to prosecute the officers concerned.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar termed this a serious issue and asked the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Central Drug Standards and Control Organisation (CDSCO) to file their response on the plea by …read more
