A technical committee in the Union Health Ministry on Friday recommended revocation of ban on the sale of anti-diabetic medicine “pioglitazone”, imposed by the ministry last month.
The prohibition order was issued after a section of doctors informed the drug regulator about long-term risks associated with the medicine. Continuous use of the medicine can cause urinary bladder cancer.
Pioglitazone is banned in France and Germany whereas in the USA and UK, it is sold with a black-box warning and patient information guide.
The Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) recommended to the health minister to withdraw the ban and allow sale of the medicine with a warning on the box, reliable sources told Deccan Herald. The final decision would have to be taken by the health minister.
The risks associated with the medicine came to the knowledge of the drugs controller general of India in January when Chennai-based diabetologist V Mohan wrote a letter to the DCGI citing 8 cases of bladder cancer among pioglitazone users.
The letter was preceded by a scientific correspondence in the December 2012 issue of Journal of the Association of Physicians in India by Mohan and seven other doctors from southern and western India, who reported those eight cases of bladder cancer. Mohan provided that study along with four other reports from Canada, France and UK, demonstrating the risks.
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