Health Ministry to separate medical devices from drugs category

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will be withdrawing the Drugs and Cosmetics Amendment Bill, 2007, which is pending in the Rajya Sabha, in favour of a new amendment bill. This is part of the Government’s plans to remove medical electronics and devices from the category of drugs and give them a new classification, as well as create new regulations for them. A.K. Panda, Joint Secretary with the Ministry of Health, made the announcement of the planned withdrawal of the Bill and said the new amendment Bill would be placed before Cabinet within a few days. He was speaking at a seminar on investment opportunities in medical electronics and devices, which was jointly organised by FICCI, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, a not-for-profit company under the aegis of the Department of Biotechnology.

Commenting on the need to segregate medical devices from drugs, he said, “The new Bill will have an entire chapter on medical devices and will help clear up many of the concerns created by the current classification of medical devices as drugs.”