The government is planning to ban a popular Anti-Anxiety drug that has been commonly used in India for over a decade. The drug is used without any clinical trials and despite the fact it is banned in several other countries. TIME magazine describes this decade as the “Age of Anxiety” and 4 out of 10 Indians suffer from anxiety related disorders according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.
The Health Ministry is considering a ban on the commonly-used anti-anxiety drug Deanxit, for potential addiction and because it can sometimes provoke suicidal thoughts and nightmares. Psychiatrist, Bombay Hospital Dr Sharita Shah, said “In India, its not just psychiatrists who are using it, there are a lot of other doctors, like the GP, cardiologists, everyone prescribes it. So, it is popular, and patients also tend to overdose, once you write a prescription, the patients tend to take the drug on their own, and don’t come back to the doctors.”
Deanxit enjoys a Rs 35 crore annual market in India itself. But what is disturbing, given those serious side-effects is that India is one of the few countries to even allow its usage. Deanxit is banned for use in the country of it’s origin, Denmark. The US FDA, Drug Authorities in UK , Canada, Australia or Japan , have not approved this drug either. For such a drug, no clinical trials were carried out in India.
Taking note of these points, the Health Ministry has NOW setup a panel of medical experts to probe the side effects of this drug. But the bigger question is, who is responsible for the health of those patients who took this medicine for all this while? Drug Expert, Editor MIMS Dr CM Gulati said “Why on Earth did the DCGI approve it? What were they thinking? Plus it is highly immoral and unethical on the drug company’s part to sell a drug in India, which is banned in it’s country of origin! So, two major violations took place here.” A word of advice for patients on this medication, please do check with your doctor for substitutes.
Medicine India 