Pointing to a collusive nexus between drug manufacturers, officials of Drugs Control Organisation and medical experts in granting approvals to new drugs, a Parliamentary Panel said drugs banned, discarded or withdrawn in developed countries are in circulation in India.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare also pointed to serious lapses and irregularities on the grant of approvals to new drugs and pointed out that 33 such drugs were approved without conducting clinical trials on Indian patients.

Alarmed at concerns of safety of Indian patients using such new drugs approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the top body handling approval of drugs, the Committee held "this matter needs to be reviewed to ensure safety of patients, fair play, transparency and accountability."

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