In order to procure equipment from foreign manufacturers, by floating a Global Tender Enquiry for any procurement up to INR 200 Crore, normally the concerned ministry is required to seek prior approval, and that too in exceptional circumstances. This requirement has now been exempted for certain medical devices upon request by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as a result, all departments and ministries (where applicable) seeking procurement of the 161 Medical Devices listed in this Notification, shall be free to issue Global Tender Enquiries without prior approval.
Source: bit.ly/3zmmGVs
While currently Registered Medical Practitioners are encouraged to use the generic names of Drugs, they are not barred from prescribing branded Drugs, nor are they restricted to prescribe specific dosages. In this connection the Bangalore based association of Chemists and Druggists, has sought clarification regarding the obligations of registered Pharmacists, with respect to drug substitution and sale of non-standard quantity of Drugs to patients when the prescription dosage does not match the minimum pack size available from the manufacturer, along with raising concerns on the recent restriction on discount advertisement imposed by the Maharashtra Pharmacy Council.
Source: bit.ly/3LeL4Lj
In light of the recent recall of Indian manufactured spices in various countries, India’s Central food regulator, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India had conducted extensive testing of samples and has suspended licenses 111 small and medium sized exporters for not meeting standards despite the increased Minimum Residue Limits.
Source: bit.ly/4bnDQQ5
Source: bit.ly/3L4UXLP
The Rajasthan High Court has taken Suo Motu cognizance of the rising cases of food adulteration across the state, recognizing a need to plug the existing gaps in the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 (FSS Act, 2006). IN pursuance whereof, it passed orders to the Central and State Governments to more efficiently implement the FSS Act 2006, by identifying and targeting high-risk areas for sample collection, conducting tests with greater frequency, instituting state and district level committees for review of measures taken, and create general awareness among consumers.
Source: bit.ly/4bv1JF8
The International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) has published guiding principles for Good Machine Learning Practice, for the use and implementation of AI and Machine Learning tools into medical devices. These guiding principles include: Leveraging multi-disciplinary expertise throughout the lifespan of the products, ensuring the training and test data-sets are separate, focusing on performance of human-AI collaborating team, and use of data-sets based on current best practices.
Source: bit.ly/4ePEmsQ