E-Paper
Amphotericin readily available in market, Centre tells Delhi HC
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday said it was surprised by the Union government’s submission that Amphotericin-B, one of the medicines used for treating black fungus, was readily available in the market
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday said it was surprised by the Union government’s submission that Amphotericin-B, one of the medicines used for treating black fungus, was readily available in the market.
When the court said if the medicine was available in abundance there should not have been so many deaths, the counsel said people were not dying because of lack of medicines but “the disease itself is dangerous”.
Central government standing counsel Kirtiman Singh, replying to the remark by the court that nearly one-third people affected by black fungus have died, said people are not dying for lack of medicines otherwise there would have been a lot of noise.
The submission did not go well with a bench of justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh, which said “there is already a lot of noise and if you choose not to hear it, that is your choice”.
During the hearing the high court also expressed satisfaction over the guidelines issued by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) on possible treatment options for black fungus for which Liposomal Amphotericin-B is the drug of choice and asked the expert body to review it on regular interval.
The court was informed by central government standing counsel Anurag Alhuwalia, appearing for ICMR, that the criteria for prioritising patients for administering Liposomal Amphotericin-B for treating mucormycosis (black fungus) is young patients and those in whom surgical intervention is not possible or incomplete.
The ICMR latest guidelines were framed in pursuance to the court’s June 1 order in which the various questioned were posed relating to treatment for black fungus.The guidelines discuss all possible treatment options as well as preventive measures including appropriate management of co-morbidities.
