China amends law, allows approved Indian generic medicines to be used by patients in small quantities

Generic drugs which have been approved in India and other countries but not approved in China have been removed from China’s “fake medicine” list. This means that they can be used by patients in small quantities from December 1.

 Newly revised drug administration law of China stated that until now, all foreign generic drugs not approved in China were clubbed under the counterfeit category and were illegal to use here. From December 1, these drugs can be used by patients and they will not be punished for doing so if used in small quantities.

Revision was approved and announced at the end of the session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Monday.

Change in the law is good news for Chinese patients suffering from diseases like cancer. As they will now be able to access effective and cheap generic drugs from India especially to treat ailments like cancer.

State-run Chinese news portal, thepaper.cn added that,“Article 124 of the newly revised drug administration law stipulates that the import of a small number of drugs that have been legally listed overseas (but) without approval (in China) can be exempted from punishment in minor cases”.

It doesn’t actually mean that the Indian generic drugs will flood the Chinese market or be widely available in pharmacies in China anytime soon.

NPC officials have stated that the decision to revise the law was partly because of the public sentiment, which in turn, was influenced by last year’s Chinese movie “Dying to Survive,” which was partly shot in India and is about a person who procured and sold India-made anti-cancer drugs in China.

Source HT