Reconsider the ban: on oxytocin
The Union Health Ministry’s ban on the retail sale and private manufacture of oxytocin, expected to kick off on September 1, is an extremely ill-thought-out one. The drug, a synthetic version of a human hormone, is a life-saver for women. Doctors use it to induce labour in pregnant women and to stem postpartum bleeding. So critical is its role in maternal health that the World Health Organization recommends it as the drug of choice in postpartum haemorrhage.
The government’s ban ignores this, and is motivated instead by the misuse of the hormone in the dairy industry. Because oxytocin stimulates lactation in cattle, dairy farmers inject the drug indiscriminately to increase milk production. This has spawned several unlicensed facilities that manufacture the drug for veterinary use. It is a problem that needs solving. But the right approach would have been to strengthen regulation, and crack down on illegal production. Much is unknown about the ill-effects of oxytocin on cattle.
One of the concerns was that oxytocin leads to infertility in dairy animals, and some studies show this to be true. It has also been linked to mastitis, a painful inflammation of the udder. Milk consumers worry about exposure to it through dairy products. The science behind some of these claims is unclear. In a Lok Sabha answer in 2015, the National Dairy Research Institute was quoted as saying there was no evidence that oxytocin led to infertility. A 2014 study by researchers at the National Institute of Nutrition concluded that oxytocin content in buffalo milk did not alter with injections.
However, even if the ill-effects of oxytocin are real, a ban is not the answer. Oxytocin is simply too important to Indian women, 45,000 of whom die due to causes related to childbirth each year. A parallel to the situation lies in the misuse of antibiotics in humans and poultry. So heavily are these drugs used that they are causing deadly bacteria to become resistant to them. Yet, despite calls for a complete ban on over-the-counter sale of antibiotics, India has been reluctant to do so.
In much of rural India, more people still die due to a lack of antibiotics than due to antibiotic-resistance. This has swung the cost-benefit ratio against outright bans. In oxytocin’s case, if only a single public sector unit manufactures the drug, as the government plans, this could lead to drug shortages and price hikes. Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Limited, the drugmaker tasked with manufacturing oxytocin, has been asked to cap the price at ₹16.56 for 1 ml of a five international unit (IU) solution. However, some private manufacturers were selling it for ₹4 until now. Monopolising production will remove the low-price options from the market. Such a situation may benefit cattle, but will put the lives of many women at risk.
courtesy : thehindu.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
HC orders preservation of Sunjay Kapur's assets on plea by Karisma Kapoors' children
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed preservation of the assets of late Sunjay Kapur, ruling that all "suspicious circumstances" raised by the industrialist's children from his marriage with actor Karisma Kapoor have to be completely removed by his third wife, Priya Kapur, before the acceptance of his purported last will.
Justice Jyoti Singh passed the interim order on an application filed by Karisma Kapoor's children to restrain Priya Kapur from alienating their father's assets, reportedly worth Rs 30,000 crore.
The interim application was filed in a suit by the children, challenging their late father's purported will of his assets.
"Having heard and on examination of the material on record, I have the considered view that all legitimate suspicious circumstances raised by the plaintiffs will have to be completely removed by defendant number one (Priya Kapur) before the document is accepted as the last will," the judge said.
"Plaintiffs have made out a prima-facie case that the assets which are subject matter need to be protected, preserved, pending disposal of the suit," she added.
Justice Singh ordered that the equity shareholdings in the three Indian companies of the deceased cannot be changed and also restrained the disposal of his personal effects, including artwork.
The court said if the assets are not preserved and Priya Kapur ultimately fails to prove the validity and genuineness of the will, the deceased's children from his marriage with Karisma Kapoor -- his second wife -- and his mother Rani Kapur would be deprived of their legitimate shares.
"I have restrained from alienating, transferring, pledging, liquidating or in any other manner changing the equity shareholdings in the three Indian companies. I have restrained from withdrawing the PF amount. I have restrained from withdrawing monies from the three accounts except to the extent of discharging liabilities towards the children," the judge said.
The court clarified that it has not passed the order with respect to immovable foreign assets.
A detailed copy of the verdict is awaited.
Sunjay Kapur died on June 12, 2025, after collapsing during a polo match in England. He had reportedly suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.
