India Readies Treatment Protocol for Coronavirus

India’s top health research agency is working on a standard treatment protocol for dealing with coronavirus infections, said people with knowledge of the matter.

New Delhi: India’s top health research agency is working on a standard treatment protocol for dealing with coronavirus infections, said people with knowledge of the matter.

This will comprise a cocktail of antiretrovirals used to treat HIV/AIDS, similar to protocols being followed in China....read more

Kerala government declares coronavirus as state disaster: Cases in North, South and Central Kerala

CMAAO Update 4th February on Coronavirus 2019-nCoV

Over 2,239 people in the state are under observation, of which 2,155 are in their homes, while 84 are in hospitals. One hundred forty samples have so far been sent for testing, of which 46 are negative and the results of the rest are awaited. More are likely to be positive.

All three coronavirus cases have been reported in different parts of the state - Kasaragod district in north Kerala, Thrissur in central Kerala and Alappuzha in South Kerala....read more

What caused the Muzaffarpur children deaths in June 2019

Four months left and it’s time to prevent the same happening in 2020 Nearly half of the children who died due to acute encephalitis syndrome in Muzaffarpur, Bihar in mid-2019 had no history of litchi consumption. A majority of the rest was aged less than 2 years and was not quite able to eat the fruit....read more

Science behind regrets

In a US-based study, dying people were asked about their regrets, if any. The top five regrets were:

1.I wish I had the courage to live a life I wanted to live and not what others expected me to live.

2.I wish I had worked harder....read more

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Limited salt intake can reduce blood pressure by 4.8/2.5 mmHg in patients of high blood pressure.

Healthcare News Monitor

Health ministry releases Draft DMR Amendment Bill, 2020

Pharmabiz India - Shardul Nautiyal

The Union health ministry has released the draft Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) (DMR) (Amendment) Bill, 2020 for effective compliance. The ministry’s initiative in this regard comes close on the heels of concerns raised at several quarters on implementation and effectiveness of the DMR Act, 1954. The proposed draft bill clearly defines Advertisement, Penalty and the disorders covered under the ambit of the Act which shall be called the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) (Amendment) Act, 2020. As per a notice, “Ministry of health and family welfare, Government of India proposes to amend the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954 in order to keep pace with changing time and technology. In this regard, a draft bill has been prepared and released to solicit suggestions, comments, objections from the public or stakeholders with regard to the said draft Bill.” “The suggestions, comments or objections may be forwarded within 45 days from the date of issue of this notice by email at drugsdiv-mohfw@gov.in or by post to Under Secretary (drugs Regulation), Ministry of health and family welfare, Room No. 414 A, D Wing, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi - 110011,” the notice stated.

Proposed API park in TN to create opportunities for pharmacists to become entrepreneurs in bulk drug manufacturing

Pharmabiz India - Peethaambaran Kunnathoor

The Tamil Nadu government’s initiative for a bulk drugs park at Cheyyar in Thiruvannamalai may open spaces for graduate pharmacists to become new entrepreneurs in active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) industry, according to pharma industry leaders who support the entry of pharmacists into industry field. Besides, the project will generate more employment opportunities for the unemployed pharmacists as more MSME units will get chances for manufacturing various bulk drugs. “With not much of investment, an aspiring entrepreneur can enter into the manufacturing field for dealing in APIs. In the case of formulations, large financial investment is required. Here in the common facility centre, all infrastructure facilities will be provided, and the API manufacturer needs to focus only on a single ingredient,” says a leader of the Tamil Nadu branch of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA). Since Tamil Nadu is a hub of formulation industry it will be a fillip to the sector once the bulk drug park project is taken place. All the MSME units will get opportunities and the industry players can increase their export potential. The budding entrepreneurs will also prosper well, said an exporter of formulations in Chennai.

Hyderabad: Hospital MD found hanging inside his office

The Indian Express

A doctor and owner of a multi-specialty hospital in Hyderabad allegedly committed suicide early Tuesday morning. According to the police, Karanala Ajay Kumar, the deceased, was the Chairman and Managing Director of Sri Vaishnavi Hospital at LB Nagar in the city. He was found hanging from the ceiling fan inside his office chamber when the staff broke open the door around 9 am. The hospital, established in 2016, has been running out of a rented multi-storeyed building. Based on a complaint from the doctor’s wife, Karnala Swetha, LB Nagar police registered a case under section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide) and started a probe. The police have recovered Kumar’s diary, in which he has allegedly named seven persons who “drove him to end his life”. In the complaint, Swetha has alleged that the owner of the building, along with his men, had been harassing her husband for a while now. Repeated humiliation at the hands of those named in the diary drove him to suicide, she said. According to the staff, Kumar came to the hospital around 2am and remained locked inside his office. Getting no response from him in the morning, the staff broke the door open, and found his body hanging.

Fake Indian-origin doctor jailed for knife attack on family in UK

The New Indian Express

A man who pretended being a doctor and then attempted to murder his wife and her family members over fears of his secret being exposed has been sentenced to 28 years imprisonment by a UK court. Satya Thakor, a failed medical student, had faked his medical qualifications as he pretended to be busy with late-night shifts for seven years, Reading Crown Court was told as the 35-year-old was sentenced on Monday. The prosecution told the court that in May last year he attempted to suffocate his mother-in-law Gita Laxman before arming himself with a knife to attack wife Nisha and brother-in-law Primal and sister-in-law Rishika. Police found Thakor in the bath of the home in Wraysbury, Berkshire, where he had stabbed himself a number of times and was shouting about demons. "You chose an extreme act of violence to get out of the difficulty that you were in. You could have stopped it as the madness that it was and as the idiotic decision that it was, but you chose not to," Judge Paul Dugdale noted. Thakor, his wife Nisha and daughter had travelled from their home in Leicester to his mother-in-laws house when the attack happened. In addition to the prison sentence, Thakor has an indefinite restraining order imposed on him against his family, Leicester Mercury reports. The court heard that Thakor had been leaving home every day and pretending to go to work but had in fact been spending all day in the library, reading medical books.