Mediator, a drug licensed for use by diabetics that became widely prescribed in France as a slimming aid, "probably" caused at least 1,300 deaths before it was withdrawn, a study published on Thursday said.

Mahmoud Zureik of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), who co-led the probe, told AFP that around 3,100 people had required hospitalisation during the 33 years during which the drug was sold.

However, these figures could well be an "underestimate," he said.

While biotech and pharma are referred to as sunrise sectors, a new study reveals only an insignificant amount of innovative, patentable work has been carried out so far as part of the outsourcing process to Indian pharma-biotech firms. The study titled “work outsourced to Indian biotech and pharma companies is not yet significantly innovative,” focuses on projects outsourced and has been published in the latest edition of Current Science.

Multigrain noodles that claim to be healthier than the regular variety, digestive biscuits that help weight loss and drinks that make champions out of little children — cracking down on such advertisements, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sent notices to the manufacturers asking them to justify the claims with appropriate evidence or face action for violating the advertising code for food items and supplements.

Delhi government’s Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) has been awarded a quality assurance stamp by the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals (NABH). This makes it the first neurosciences and psychiatry facility to get this recognition. Almost two years since they first began the application procedure, IHBAS has addressed many of the shortcomings pointed out to them during their inspections, NABH authorities said.

On the eve of a high-level summit between the leaders of India and the European Union (EU) in Delhi, Oxfam has called upon the EU to not pressurise India into agreeing to new trade rules that could deny hundreds of millions of people access to affordable medicines. Calling on the EU not to shut down the “pharmacy of the developing world”, senior Oxfam officials noted that negotiations, which have been ongoing for four years, are a means for the two economies to agree on a trade pact and forge a new commercial relationship.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said that a State Urban Health Mission would be launched to provide comprehensive health services in the urban areas particularly targeting the slum areas. He also announced that under the Indira Bal Swasthya Yojana (IBSY) free treatment would be provided to all children. Earlier, free treatment was provided to children hailing from Below Poverty Line families only.

Indian activists applaud Australian Government for timely action. Anti-tobacco activists in India have welcomed the move by an anti-tobacco lobby, Action on Smoking and Health, in Australia which alerted and pressurised Cricket Australia to immediately remove a surrogate advertisement by an Indian company promoting gutka in Australia. “The advertisement of an Indian gutka company was seen displayed on the boundary rope during the Australia-India Test series in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

Pulled up by the Supreme Court, the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers has set a deadline of three weeks for a final version of its draft pharma policy before the group of ministers (GoM) constituted for the purpose two years earlier. The ministry on Thursday assured the Supreme Court of this in a hearing on a suit filed by civil society group, All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN).