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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 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-II, Chandigarh passed an Order in favour of the consumer for automatically levying a service charge and without obtaining the consent of the consumer; further, the opposite party refused to remove the said charge upon objection. The opposite party did not appear in the Consumer Court, hence, an ex-parte Order was passed. The opposite party was directed to refund ₹129 collected towards service charge and pay a lump-sum compensation of ₹5,000 towards harassment and litigation expenses within 45 days of receipt of the order.
Source: short-url.cc/1ymfE

2. India’s finance ministry has extended the customs duty exemption on imports of specified petrochemical products used in pharmaceutical manufacturing such as chemicals, plastics, textiles, packaging, and automotive manufacturing in view of the continuing global supply disruptions. The extension is intended to ensure the uninterrupted availability of essential raw materials, support domestic pharmaceutical production, and help mitigate input cost pressures.
Source: short-url.cc/1ymfK

3. India’s Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a ₹1 lakh penalty on a major beverages manufacturer for making a misleading “100% tender coconut water” claim. The authority held that the product’s labelling and advertising had the potential to mislead consumers regarding its composition, constituting a misleading advertisement and unfair trade practices under the consumer protection Act, 2019. The authority directed the company to discontinue the impugned advertisements and imposed a monetary penalty.
Source: short-url.cc/1sR6o

4. The Indian Multi-Disciplinary Committee of experts advised the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to fix ceiling prices for intravenous fluids with advanced safety packaging at fifteen percent above existing regulated prices. If accepted, the proposal would encourage adoption of safer packaging technologies while ensuring these essential medicines remain subject to price regulation.
Source: short-url.cc/1sR6v

5. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has issued a notice directing registered battery waste recyclers to upload GST e-invoices for the sale of recovered key battery metals and metal compounds on the Battery Waste EPR Portal for EPR Certificate generation. EPR Certificates generated on the basis of non-GST e-invoices after 30 June 2026 will not be considered valid and may constitute non-compliance under the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022.
Source: short-url.cc/1ymg3

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TOP 5 HEALTH LAWS AND POLICY UPDATES

1. The Supreme Court ruled that mixing samples collected from contraband contained in various packages after a seizure violates the terms of the Narcotic Substances and Psychotropic Substances Act and the rules enacted under it. The court noted that the statutory rules require a specific procedure to be followed, and the Detecting Officer is obligated to follow the authorized procedure. No one can presume the nature of the substance based on speculations and conjectures.
Source: bit.ly/3zN4yV9

2. The Central Consumer Protection Authority fined a firm selling ayurvedic oil ₹ 10 lakh for violating consumer protection laws on misleading advertisements which claimed relief from joint pain without surgery or physiotherapy while promoting their joint-pain-relieving product.
Source: bit.ly/3W1YJum

3. Following the Central Government’s decision to replace British-era criminal procedure codes with Bharatiya Sanhitas, the Government of India held a meeting with the Drugs Control Officers (India) Welfare Association (DCO India) to change the name of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, passed by the British Rulers to ‘Bharatiya Aushadhi awam Chikitsa Upakaran Adhiniyam’. The national conference of Indian drug regulators will hold in-depth discussions on the subject.
Source: bit.ly/3WphadL

4. The National Health Authority (NHA) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) collaborated to launch the National Health Claim Exchange (NHCX), a digital platform for exchanging insurance claims-related information among healthcare and insurance stakeholders. The NHCX will enable seamless interoperability of health claims processing, allowing citizens to track their insurance claim progress via mobile devices.
Source: bit.ly/3xQ9EPX

5. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final question-and-answer guidance outlining how it assesses user fees for combination products, as well as the various programs available to sponsors for requesting user fee waivers under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) and Medical Device User Fee Amendments (MDUFA). The guideline offers background information on combination goods, how the agency calculates user fees for single and multiple applications, and how to request waivers or reductions in user costs.
Source: bit.ly/3y3roHw

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TOP 5 HEALTH LAWS AND POLICY UPDATES

1. India’s Supreme Court has reportedly asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to appropriately modify the self-declaration requirement imposed by the Supreme Court on all advertisements, such that the consumers remain protected against misleading advertisement, but the industry is not overly inconvenienced in the process of complying with the self-declaration requirement.
Source: bit.ly/3xYqk7C

2. The Supreme Court has ruled that not disclosing critical or material information about safety at the time of promotion of the product amounts to unfair trade practices.
Source: bit.ly/460Duxr

3. Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), India’s drug regulatory authority, is reportedly planning to take action against pharmaceutical companies that fail to implement barcodes or QR codes on the top 300 medicine brands identified by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
Source: bit.ly/3zJllrU

4. MeDevIS (Medical Devices Information System) online portal, the first worldwide open access clearing house for information on medical devices, was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is intended to assist governments, regulators, and users in making decisions about the selection, procurement, and use of medical devices for diagnosing, testing, and treating diseases and health conditions. MeDevIS refers to two international naming systems for medical devices: the European Medical Device Nomenclature (EMDN) and the Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN), which attempt to maintain data uniformity across borders.
Source: bit.ly/3zJQIm9

5. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission recently stated that a pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), who operate as middlemen between pharmaceutical firms and customers, have an excessive amount of influence over prescription drug costs due to the years-long dealmaking which has ultimately resulted in the consolidation of pharmacies and health insurance companies.
Source: bit.ly/3W0Mhee

Posted on

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.

Indian Government may introduce Digital Competition Bill before the Parliament in November 2024
In an effort to curb anticompetitive conduct in the digital marketplace, the Indian government may introduce a draft Digital Competition Bill in the Parliament in November 2024. Laws regarding predatory pricing, exclusive tie-ups that restrict market access for users of digital platforms from accessing third-party applications are all intended to be covered by the bill.
Source: bit.ly/3W5ADk1

Supreme Courts rejects apology of a major Ayurvedic medicine manufacturer in an ongoing contempt case
In an ongoing proceeding against a major Ayurvedic medicine manufacturer for publication of misleading advertisements and the ongoing contempt case, the Supreme Court rejected manufacturer’s apology to the Court and gave it a week’s time to issue a public statement apologising for misleading advertisements and making comments against allopathic medicines.
Source: bit.ly/49HMFTV

Specific law to apply over general law only if the offense perfectly covers all elements of the offence under general law: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that the Information Technology Act, 2000 will supersede the Indian Penal Code if an offence is covered under both the legislations. The Court reasoned the ruling by stating that where an offence matches the definition in both general and specific laws, but specific law encompasses all elements of the general law’s definition, the specific law will take precedence over a general law. However, if the special law provision does not exhaustively deal with all the ingredients of the offence, the general law will take precedence.
Source: bit.ly/3Qc2CuK

India’s food regulator may investigate presence of sugar infant food products
India’s food regulator, The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is reportedly investigating the presence of sugar in infant products of a major food company, in light of news reports that the company did not sell infant food products with sugar in developed countries.
Source: bit.ly/3Q8Lx4Q

Colorado introduces first law to protect consumer’s brainwaves
The state of Colorado has introduced a first of a kind law in the United States that aims to protect the data found in a person’s brainwaves. The legislation is seen to be a measure to protect consumers’ personal data in the light of rapid advancements in neurotechnology making scanning, analysing and selling mental data increasingly accessible.
Source: bit.ly/3xKHipO