Drugs ban worries city diabetics

After the Union health ministry banned 344 fixed dose combination drugs recently, chemists are still unclear and in confusion over the identity of the banned combinations, which is creating trouble for diabetic patients in procuring their medicine.
On Saturday, Anita Aggawal, a diabetic patient, had to run from one medical store to another in search of her anti-diabetic combination drug of Pioglitazone 15 mg and Metformin 500 mg. But all chemists refused to give her one after the ban on the combination of Pioglitazone 7.5 mg and Metformin 500 mg. Though the banned combination is different from the one needed by Anita, she said chemists still refused to give her the drug.