#FDCBan: Madras High Court refuses stay on notification

In direct contrast to the Delhi High Court’s current stance over FDC drugs, the Madras High Court has refused to grant a stay over the Health Ministry’s notification that led to a ban on 344 FDC drugs..As reported by Business Standard, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MM Sundresh refused a stay while hearing the writ petition filed by Federation of South Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (FOSIPMA), a federation of pharmaceutical manufacturers of all the southern states..Senior counsel Vijay Narain had appeared for the petitioner..The Bench, however has directed the Centre to file an affidavit in reply to the petition and has further restrained the government to not take any co-ercive steps against stockists & manufacturers. The federation had stated that the decision of banning the drugs was taken by the Ministry without consulting the companies or conducting any meetings with them..But the Bench seems to have differed over the issue when it said that safety standards of drugs were to be determined by experts and public safety was also a consideration..In Delhi though, the judicial reaction has been different..In what can be termed as an avalanche of petitions, nearly 100 pharma companies had approached the Delhi High Court in the past week challenging the Govt’s decision of banning drugs. The Single Bench of Justice RS Endlaw had extended interim protection of stay against the ban to all these companies.