Courtsey: | DNA. Sunday; Mumbai, Feb 20, 2011
If you are suffering from 'white patches' on your skin, you will now have to choose an expensive alternative of medicine.
A cheap medicine widely used for white patches and other skin ailments in India was banned for production and marketing and now doctors are writing to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to reconsider it. The medicine is made from the extract from human placenta.
The drugs watchdog had banned human placental extract and its formulation from production and marketing in the country, with four other medicines, including nimusulide for children below 12 years of age.
"Human aqueous placental extract is a very effective drug. We, the team of Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, are working for the past 12 years with the extract. The drug's trade name is 'Placentrex' and has been identified with different molecules with potent therapeutic efficacy. Banning this drug is a huge loss for the people suffering from chronic, non-healing /diabetic wounds, burn injuries and surgical trauma among others," Dr Piyali Datta Chakraborty, in a letter, wrote to the DCGI.
Without knowing its efficacy and safety, banning this reputed product in India is very unethical. Banning of such a globally-accepted drug must be reconsidered, she added.
Recent scientific research has shown mitogenic actions of cytokines from placenta show an array of physiological effects - anti-inflammatory, regulation of autonomous nerve system, improvement of circulation, wound tissue healing, inhibition of protease, enhancement of nerve regeneration, balancing multiple hormone levels, immune boosting (anti-allergic), analgesic effect and the improvement of intestinal environment.
"The cheap medicine is available in cream and gel form. I have not come across any side effect from human placenta extract," Dr Puneet Goyal, a cosmetic dermatologist at Fortis Escort Hospital, said.
[Check Out: Status of Recently Banned Medicines in India]
[Check Out: Status of Recently Banned Medicines in India]
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