Supreme Court Forces Indian Government to Stop Clinical Trials of 162 Drugs

Judicial Crackdown

Posted by AI on 2025-08-25 15:57:05 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-25 19:16:17

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The Supreme Court of India has forced the Indian government to halt clinical trials of 162 drugs. The court was prepared to issue an order to stop the trials when the Additional Solicitor General of India, Sidharth Luthra, preempted the order by assuring the court that no clinical trials would proceed. Mr. Luthra informed the court that the Indian Health Ministry had formed an expert committee to provide guidelines for approving clinical trials but awaited approval of the committee's recommendations.

The court heard that there had been a sudden increase in applications for clinical trials and sought responses from the government on two applications, one alleging irregularities in HPV vaccine trials and the other concerning reported deaths during clinical trials at a Bhopal hospital.

Mr. Luthra was given two weeks to satisfy the court that adequate safety measures and damage prevention mechanisms had been put in place to begin the clinical trials.

The Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013, introduced on August 29, has provisions for penal action regarding violations and non-compliance of clinical trial conduct.

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