Some of the Internationaly banned drugs but freely available in the Indian market

Some of the banned drugs known to have serious side-effects, are readily available in the Indian market. Merck announced a worldwide withdrawal of their molecule rofecoxib, branded as Vioxx. In India however the drug was sold with impunity, and despite the litigation, warnings and media coverage of the adverse affects of the drug, it continues to be sold.

Recently, in relation to the ban on Vioxx, the government issued an order to ban another Cox-2 drug, Valdecoxib. 

In the case of Vioxx, the drug is actually banned in India, but is being sold against the law. But, there are a number of other drugs that have got a red light in other countries, but are allowed to circulate freely in the Indian market with government approval. 

 

Process of banning

The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) is the final authority on imposing a ban. An executive committee examines the harmful effects of the drugs and reports the results to the DTAB. If any drug is found to have harmful side-effects, the government issues the ban order and all manufacturers and wholesalers are asked not to stock the particular medicine. The DCGI notifies all state drug authorities, chemist associations and manufacturers about the ban on the drug. Authorities are instructed to carry out inspections. Licences of chemists stocking banned drugs can be revoked under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

 

The following are few examples of banned drugs in abroad but freely available in the Indian market.

S.No	Generic name	Use	Reason for ban	Brand name(s)
1	Analgin	Pain-killer	Bone-marrow depression	Novalgin, Baralgan
2	Cisapride	Acidity, constipation	Irregular heart beat	Ciza, Syspride
3	Droperidol	Anti-depressant	Irregular heart beat	Droperol
4	Furazolidone	Anti-diarrhoeal	Cancer	Furoxone, Lomofen
5	Nimesulide	Pain-killer, fever	Liver failure	Nise, Nimulid
6	Nitrofurazone	Anti-bacterial cream	Cancer	Furacin, Emfurazone
7	Phenolphthalein	Laxative	Cancer	Jetomisol-P
8	Phenylpropanolamine	Cold & cough	Stroke	D'Cold, Vicks Action 500
9	Oxyphenbutazone	NSAID	Bone marrow depression	Sioril
10	Piperazine	Anti-worms	Nerve damage	Piperazine, Helmazan
11	Quiniodochlor	Anti-diarrhoeal	Damage to sight	Enteroquinol
12	Rosiglitazone maleate	Anti-diabetic	liver failure, hepatitis, heart failure	Avandia
13	Cerivastatin	Anti-hyperlipidemic	fatal rhabdomyolysis	Baycol