Photo of Jashaswi Ghosh

Associate in the Pharmaceutical, Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice at the Delhi office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Jashaswi has graduated from Gujarat National Law University, in 2018 and specializes in regulatory compliance, advisory work and litigation pertaining to the pharmaceutical and health-care industry. He also has experience corporate laws and litigation having worked in the general corporate and disputes teams in the firm’s Mumbai Office. He can be reached at jashaswi.ghosh@cyrilshroff.com

Coercive Vaccination! Explaining the Jacob Puliyel v. Union of India case

On May 02, 2022, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India passed its judgement in a matter titled Jacob Puliyel v. Union of India & Ors[1], wherein it closely examined the details of the vaccination policy, the dissemination of clinical trials data, veracity of emergency approvals of vaccines and the reporting of adverse impacts of vaccination.Continue Reading Coercive Vaccination! Explaining the Jacob Puliyel v. Union of India case

DIAL-A-DOCTOR-A-look-at-the-Telemedicine-Practice-Guidelines-2020

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (“MoHFW”), on March 25, 2020, issued the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines (“Guidelines”) providing Registered Medical Practitioners (“RMPs”) with guidelines to treat patients remotely by using the telemedicine tools at their disposal.

Concepts such as telemedicine have gained prominence pursuant to the rapid development of information technology and the need to service the requirements of patients who may not be able to visit healthcare facilities, or have little to no access to the same. Such services involve the transfer of medical information and expertise through telecommunication and computer technologies and aim to facilitate diagnosis, treatment and management of patients. Currently, in India, platforms such as ‘practo’ and ‘DocOnline’ exist which facilitate online medical consultations albeit in a restricted manner given stringent regulatory controls on the practice of medicine. Though such platforms would help to deliver widespread healthcare services, there exist several concerns that exist about the medicolegal implications of telemedicine relating to registration, licensing, insurance, quality, privacy and confidentiality issues, as well as other risks associated with electronic health care communication.
Continue Reading DIAL A DOCTOR- A look at the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2020

NCOVID-19: From detection to a cure, A regulatory overview

COVID-19 is the latest pandemic after cholera, the bubonic plague, smallpox, NIPAH, ZIKA and influenza-SARS, etc., to have accosted the world. A more aggressive variant of human coronaviruses that cause upper-respiratory tract illnesses, COVID-19 is a new disease, caused by a novel (or new) coronavirus that had hitherto not been seen in humans. The virus, having originated in China, has crossed borders and resulted in global lockdown. The race to find speedy detection and cure has begun at a feverish pace. Meanwhile, more than 300 Indians have already been diagnosed as COVID-19 positive. Six have succumbed to the disease.
Continue Reading NCOVID-19: From detection to a cure. A regulatory overview

The National Medical Commission Act, 2019. Community Health Providers

This blog post is part of a multi-part series. Our previous posts 1, 2 covered the salient features of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (NMC Act) where we highlighted some issues arising out of the same.

The NMC Act has some interesting aspects that relate to Community Health Providers (CHPs). We attempt to shed some light on this proposal.

Community Health Providers

The NMC Act, under Section 32(1) provides for granting of a limited license, “to practice medicine at mid-level as Community Health Provider to such person connected with modern scientific medical profession who qualify such criteria as may be specified by the regulations”. However, it also clarifies that the limited license granted under Section 32(1) shall not exceed one-third of the total number of licensed medical practitioners. Secondly, the scope of practice of CHPs has been limited and they can prescribe specified medicine independently, only in primary and preventive healthcare[1]. It has been clarified that in any situation other than primary and preventive healthcare, they may provide medicines only under the supervision of medical practitioners.
Continue Reading The National Medical Commission Act, 2019. Community Health Providers: Legitimate or Not

National Medical Commission Act 2019 - Part 2

This blog post is a part of a multi-part series. In the first part, we had written about the salient features of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (NMC Act) and the regime proposed by it. In this part, we will analyse some of the contentious issues in relation to the NMC Act.

Independence of Autonomous Boards:

The NMC Act has made provisions for the constitution of 4 (four) autonomous boards, namely, the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board; the Post-Graduate Medical Education Board; the Medical Assessment and Rating Board; and the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (Boards). However, in terms of Section 16(1) of the NMC Act, these “autonomous” Boards will remain under the overall supervision of the National Medical Commission (NMC). Section 16(2) of the NMC Act further provides that each of the abovementioned Boards shall be an autonomous body, however, in the same breath, it also dictates that these Boards shall carry out their functions subject to regulations made by the NMC. Furthermore, the Central Government has been entrusted with the responsibility of appointing the President and Members of these Boards on the recommendation of a ‘Search Committee’, which itself is comprised majorly of Central Government appointees. In terms of Section 23(1) of the NMC Act, the presidents of the Boards have been allowed only such administrative and financial powers, “as may be delegated” by the NMC.
Continue Reading The National Medical Commission Act, 2019. A Look : Part 2

The National Medical Commission Act, 2019

The National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (NMC Act) has been notified vide the Gazette Notification dated August 8, 2019. The NMC Act aims to repeal the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (IMC Act) and constitute the National Medical Commission (NMC), which shall supersede the Medical Council of India (MCI).

This blog post is part of a multi-part series. In this first part, we provide an overview of the salient features of the NMC Act and the regime proposed by it. In subsequent parts, we will endeavour to analyse the various contentious issues in the NMC Act in greater detail as the same has been met with significant angst from medical professionals.
Continue Reading The National Medical Commission Act, 2019. A look : Part 1