Saridon exempted from list of 328 FDCs banned by Centre

The Supreme court on Monday lifted the ban on the sale of Saridon after the painkiller was banned by the Centre last week. Besides Saridon, Piriton and Dart were also exempted from the list of 328 fixed dose combination drugs (FDC) that were banned by the Centre, according to reports.

The apex court decision comes on a petition filed by the drug makers.

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On September 13, the Union Health Ministry banned the manufacture, marketing and sale of 328 FDC drugs, including several commonly used cough syrups, painkillers, and cold and flu drugs such as Saridon, the skin cream Panderm, diabetes drug Gluconorm PG, antibiotic Lupidiclox and antibacterial Taxim AZ.

While lifting the ban, the SC has sought a reply from the Centre on the pleas against the order to ban the FDCs manufactured before 1988.

Saridon, Piriton and Dart had challenged the government’s decision ato banned the drugs and argued that the they had been manufacturing the painkillers since the 1980s.

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The government had in March 2016 banned 344 FDCs and further added five more to the list. Though the pharma firms of above-mentioned products moved to various high courts and the Supreme Court to challenge the ban, the apex court on December 15, 2017, directed the Drugs Technical Advisory Board to examine whether the products should be banned from the market.