TOP 5 HEALTH LAWS AND POLICY UPDATES

Dear Readers, we are happy to share the most interesting legal and policy updates concerning health industry that we read today. We hope you enjoy reading it.

1. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has directed all State and UT Drug Controllers to regularly sample kumkum and colour powders at religious sites for testing for synthetic ingredients due to public health concerns. Kumkum is regulated as a cosmetic in Indian law and must meet BIS standards covering heavy metal limits, microbial safety, prescribed testing methods, and mandatory packaging and labelling requirements.
Source: h7.cl/1nnwz

2. India’s Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has released the draft Pesticides Management Bill, 2025 to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968. The farmer-centric bill proposes stronger regulation of spurious pesticides, higher penalties, digital processes, mandatory lab accreditation, and promotion of biopesticides and indigenous manufacturing. Stakeholders can submit comments in the prescribed format by 4 February 2026.
Source: h7.cl/1inPA

3. The Tea Board of India has issued revised guidelines for registration of manufacturers of flavoured tea, reaffirming that every factory manufacturing flavoured tea must be registered as a bonafide manufacturer with the Tea Board. This makes the registration process for flavoured tea manufacturers clearer and more structured.
Source: h7.cl/1nnx8

4. The European Parliament has approved measures to strengthen EU supply of essential medicines by reducing dependence on non-EU countries. The proposals support domestic manufacturing through strategic projects, priority funding, EU-favoured procurement, joint purchasing, and coordinated stockpiles to prevent shortages of critical medicines such as antibiotics, insulin and vaccines.
Source: h7.cl/1nnwI

5. India’s Central Drug regulator has given approval to manufacture and sell a generic version of Ozempic (semaglutide) for diabetes, ahead of its patent expiry in March 2026. The company plans to launch 12 million injectable pens in the first year and partner locally for distribution. The company is also awaiting similar approval for the obesity drug Wegovy.
Source: h7.cl/1nnwM

TOP 5 HEALTH LAWS & POLICY UPADATES

Dear Readers, we are happy to share the most interesting legal and policy updates concerning health industry that we read today. We hope you enjoy reading it.

1. India’s Central Drug Licensing authority has mandated to file all Post Approval Change (Form CT-06) applications for Cell and Gene Therapeutic Products exclusively through the SUGAM online portal after October 24 2025. Offline submissions will no longer be accepted thereafter.
Source: urli.info/1e0FX

2. The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission has reportedly introduced 22 quality standards for blood and its components to ensure safe transfusions across India. These standards, to be included in the Indian Pharmacopoeia 2026, establish globally first comprehensive benchmarks ensuring quality, safety, and infection-free blood for patients nationwide.
Source: urli.info/1iNpx

3. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued draft amendments to the Drugs Rules, 1945, introducing provisions to debar applicants found submitting misleading, fake, or fabricated documents for licences or approvals. Offenders may face suspension for a defined period, with the right to appeal within 30 days. Stakeholder comments invited within 30 days of publication.
Source: urli.info/1e0Fx

4. The Delhi High Court held that a doctor accused of medical negligence can continue to earn a livelihood by working at other medical centres. The Court clarified that the restriction only bars the doctor from running their own centre and does not prevent them from practising their profession elsewhere.
Source: urli.info/1e0FN

5. A Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum in India has held that the absence of a pathologist’s physical signature on medical reports cannot alone justify the denial of an insurance claim. In a case where a policyholder’s claim was rejected due to a missing signature, the forum directed the insurer to reimburse the cost after finding no evidence of fraud.
Source: urli.info/1iNph

TOP 5 HEALTH LAWS AND POLICY UPDATES

Dear Readers, we are happy to share the most interesting legal and policy updates concerning health industry that we read today. we hope you enjoy reading it.

1. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed halting new registrations and the renewal of existing registrations for the manufacturing of certain high-risk foods, such as dairy products and infant nutrition. They have also proposed permitting only state or central licenses and implementing pre-license inspections for manufacturers in these categories. They have sought public feedback on these proposed changes by 30th May, 2025.
Source: bit.ly/3RRy4Po

2. The Bombay High Court directed the state government to consider a separate registration facility for patients who are not yet on dialysis but will soon need an organ transplant. This came after a CKD Stage-V patient was denied registration. The Court said such denial violates the right to life.
Source: bit.ly/3RM4xqh

3. India’s ministry of commerce and industry has prohibited the use of specified antibiotics, antivirals, and antimicrobial medicinal products in fish, shrimp, hatchery operations or any manufacturing, pre-processing and processing unit to prevent antimicrobial resistance and safeguard export quality.
Source: bit.ly/44ZamIz

4. India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has released the guidelines for the safe disposal of expired and unused medicines by hospitals and the general public. The initiative is aimed at addressing the growing concerns of antimicrobial resistance and minimizing environmental hazards. 
Source: bit.ly/4iOmj7d
Source: bit.ly/4d3ywnf

5. Under the Stockholm Convention, 40 nations worldwide have agreed to phase out the use of chlorpyrifos, a hazardous pesticide on food crops. However, India secured a five-year exemption for its use on 12 essential crops to manage certain pests and termites, as well as the lack of immediate alternatives.
Source: bit.ly/4iL0q8M

TOP 5 HEALTH LAWS AND POLICY UPDATES

Dear Reader, we are happy to share the most interesting legal and policy updates concerning health industry that we read today. We hope you enjoy reading it.

1. A Public Interest Petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court, highlighting the need to require the use of verifiable Digital Signature on medical records and prescriptions to prevent fraud, misuse and fabrication of patient data.
Source: bit.ly/46qn6GP

2. The Indian Council of Medical Research has recently published Volume IV of the Standard Treatment Workflows which introduces new treatment methods for 32 common health conditions.
Source: bit.ly/3WCUqXO

3. The Indian government is set to launch a universal platform to track vaccination, U-Win which is reportedly based on the erstwhile Co-Win platform which had been maintained to track COVID-19 vaccinations,
Source: bit.ly/3SMCnfN

4. The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission, the State level regulator of hospitals, clinics and healthcare centres, is set to issue an advisory mandating hospitals to pro-actively update the kin of patients on continued developments in health conditions to improve quality of counselling.
Source: bit.ly/4djmOUo

5. The United States Food and Drug Administration has finalized guidelines on the manner of use of Real World Data from Electronic Health Records, for the purpose of selecting and analysis of study data, as well as specifying limitation on the kind of data that can be used for clinical studies and regulatory decision making.
Source: bit.ly/3YfnV3i

TOP 5 HEALTH LAWS AND POLICY UPDATES

Dear Reader, we are happy to share the most interesting legal and policy updates concerning health industry that we read today. We hope you enjoy reading it.

Insurance Regulator Removes Barrier to offering Insurance Policy to Senior Citizens among other underserved demographics
India’s Central level Insurance regulator the IRDAI has recently issued the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Insurance Products) Regulations, 2024, where it has removed the barrier to insurance for persons over the age of 65 years. Previously, persons defined as “Senior Citizens” were not catered to, in terms of fresh insurance policy offerings.
Source: bit.ly/3JsNLIj

Pharmacists who were not personally dispensing medication at pharmacy penalized by Karnataka Pharmacy Council
The Executive Committee of the Pharmacy Council of the Indian State of Karnataka, by exercise of powers under Section 36 of the Pharmacists Act, 1948 has decided to take disciplinary action against certain Pharmacists for violation under Section 42 whereby only Pharmacists are permitted to dispense medication. It was found that several Pharmacists in the state were absent from their posts and had only been registered with their pharmacies for namesake.
Source: bit.ly/3QB2jtJ

Consumer Affairs Ministry has urged FSSAI to initiate Action against major food manufacturer for high sugar content in infant formula
India’s Central Consumer Affairs Secretary, in a recent letter to the Central Food Regulator (FSSAI), has urged it to initiate action against a major food product manufacturer, in light of the recent serious allegations regarding the heightened sugar content in the infant formula the company has been marketing in India.
Source: bit.ly/3xUo0Ox

India’s Central Bank has published Draft Circular regulating Point-of-Sale Payment Aggregators: Requiring compliance with Guidelines for online Payment Aggregators
India’s Central Bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has issued a Draft Circular for regulation of Payment Aggregators providing point-of-sale services, whereby, within 3 months of publication of final version of this Notification, all entities that are currently providing such services will be mandated to adapt and comply with all requirements concerning Guidelines on governance, merchant on-boarding, customer grievance redressal and dispute management framework, baseline technology recommendations, security, fraud prevention and risk management framework, as provided in a prior Notification on Regulation of Payment Aggregators and Gateways published in 2020.
Source: bit.ly/3U7NwY7
Source: bit.ly/3w55rHa

EU may revise categorization of Personal vs Commercial Confidential Data in Marketing Authorization Process
The European Union Regulator has begun consultation regarding an update to the current regulation surrounding what constitutes Personal data vs Commercial Confidential data in respect of protecting business secrets in marketing authorization applications submitted by pharmaceutical and medical devices companies.
Source: bit.ly/3JvpCRA