NEW DELHI: The health ministry has agreed to provide a new class of tuberculosis medicine to a 19-year-old girl whose family had sued the government for not ensuring easier availability of the life-saving drug.
The government-run National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases in New Delhi will provide Bedaquiline to Bihar resident Kaushal Kumar Tripathi's daughter, according to one of the lawyers for the family who asked not to be identified.
The lawyer for the institute could not immediately be reached for comment on the matter. Tripathi had filed a case in the Delhi high court two months ago questioning the limited availability of new TB drugs.
Bedaquiline, made by Johnson & Johnson, and Delamanid, manufactured by Japan's Otsuka, are considered the only treatment options for patients like Tripathi's daughter. Both drugs can't be bought in pharmacies and are available in limited quantities for patients in Indiaonly from the government through a donation programme by the companies.
The health ministry, which has procured 300 doses of Bedaquiline, made the drug available only to residents in New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Guwahati and Gujarat. Now, by agreeing to provide the drug to the patient from Bihar, the institute, formerly known as Lala Ram Swarup TB Hospital, has a precedent on the domicile aspect of the programme
The government-run National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases in New Delhi will provide Bedaquiline to Bihar resident Kaushal Kumar Tripathi's daughter, according to one of the lawyers for the family who asked not to be identified.
The lawyer for the institute could not immediately be reached for comment on the matter. Tripathi had filed a case in the Delhi high court two months ago questioning the limited availability of new TB drugs.
Bedaquiline, made by Johnson & Johnson, and Delamanid, manufactured by Japan's Otsuka, are considered the only treatment options for patients like Tripathi's daughter. Both drugs can't be bought in pharmacies and are available in limited quantities for patients in Indiaonly from the government through a donation programme by the companies.
The health ministry, which has procured 300 doses of Bedaquiline, made the drug available only to residents in New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Guwahati and Gujarat. Now, by agreeing to provide the drug to the patient from Bihar, the institute, formerly known as Lala Ram Swarup TB Hospital, has a precedent on the domicile aspect of the programme
Bedaquiline was approved by the US Food & Drug Administration in 2012, the first TB treatment to be cleared in 40 years. Otsuka, which has patented Delamanid in India, is yet to file for approval with the central drug regulator, leaving patients unable to access its drug.
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