On Thursday, the Apex Court issued notice to the Central Govt on a petition seeking registration of an FIR by the CBI against ten Indian pharmaceutical firms for manufacturing & selling Remdesivir & Favipiravir allegedly as medicines to treat Coronavirus patients without valid licences.
A bench headed by CJI SA Bobde sought the response from the Govt & said, "we are only going to make the Union government aware about this. We are not going to judge which medicine should be prescribed for Covid patients."
The Public Interest Litigation, filed by Lawyer ML Sharma, sought directions to restrain the use of Remdesivir & Favipiravir as medicines to treat COVID-19, saying WHO report says these two drugs had no or little effect on COVID-19 patients.
Remdesivir & Favipiravir are antiviral drugs & their efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients has been a matter of debate among medical experts.
The plea has alleged that the medicines are being manufactured & sold for treating COVID-19 patients without valid licences from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.
Sharma has sought prosecution of the Indian companies for cheating & criminal conspiracy under the provisions of the Drug Act, 1940 & said that these medicines have not been certified as medicines for COVID-19 till date by any country.
The plea said that the companies are manufacturing & selling them at very high rates in India & people are paying that due to the fear of Coronavirus infection & are dying.
It alleged that more than three hundred doctors have died in hospitals where these 2 medicines have been supplied & it amounted to "exploitation of the public" due to the fear of death.
Source Link
Picture Source :
