Volume 1, Issue 1

RIPER Poison& Drug Information Center (PDIC),

August 2010 RDT HOSPITAL, Bathalapalli, A.P.

RIPER PDIC Bulletin

A message for future Pharm D graduates in India
EDITORIAL
Working with RDT
Hospital: There is a growing con-
cern about job opportu-
 To provide high class nities of Indian Pharm
education to pharmacy D in India. Many expect
students. the Hospitals or Chain
pharmacies (with rea-
 To provide unbiased sonable pay) in India as
drug and poison infor- the main anticipated
mation to health care employer of Pharm D
professionals & public. graduates. And many
are afraid that these
 To conduct Continuing job sectors are not yet
education programs for pre-equipped for hold-
doctors, pharmacists ing Pharm D in India.
and nurses. The prime sectors Prof. Dr. B. Suresh with our principal Dr. Y. Padmanabha Reddy
which need the service
 To serve patients with of Pharm D are the sectors of pharmaceuti- 4. Medical Writing (In
caring patient counsel- pharmaceutical indus- cal industries are: hundreds)
ing. tries. They make new 5. Product Managers
medicines and they 1. Clinical Research (In hundreds)
 To help and improve need the professionals (for clinical trials - in 6. Regulatory affairs (In
medication dispensing. first than any other thousands) hundreds)
sector. Then the sec- 2. Pharmacovigilance 7. Correspondents &
 To develop a drug ond priority comes to Trainers (In hundreds)
(mandatory now for all
testing laboratory. the hospitals or phar- companies - in thou- 8. Top level medical
macies where it is used sands) representatives (In
 To collaborate with or dispensed. The job hundreds)
3. Research & Develop-
other drug information
ment (In hundreds)
centers.

 To produce & review

RDT essential drug list
Editorial Team of RIPER PDIC Bulletin
& RDT drug formulary.
RIPER Advisor: Dr. Y. Padmanabha Reddy (Principal, RIPER)
 To help in reducing RDT Advisor: Dr. M. S. Kannan (Medical Director, RDT Hospital)
adverse drug reactions Chief Editor: Mr. Dixon Thomas
and medication errors. Staff Editors: Mrs. Seeba Zachariah
Mr. E. Vigneshwaran
Student Editors: Mr. Sudheer Naik, Ms. Samhita Reddy, Ms. B. Sahithi
PAGE 2
Pharmaceutical revolution in India —
Dr. C. Sowmya, Professor, RIPER
Assessing the pharmaceutical revolution in
India, we can see that India was a forerunner
in traditional research. Despite the positive
outlook India will lose market share in the
Asian market in future. The winner, first and
foremost, will be China, which will remain the
No 1, as Indian companies' strategic reorienta-
tion away from generics to original prepara-
tion is still in its infancy. The sooner India
manages to close the infrastructure gap, the
higher growth will be in the country’s pharma-
ceutical industry.1
Pharmaceutical industry was the first branch
of the economy to strongly engage in the new
technology combining high-throughput experi-
mentation with bioinformatics analysis. In this
post-genomic era Pharmacogenomics is the
revolution which helps in making individual-
ized and cost-effective medicines.2 The phar-
Rationality of Nutritional Supplements —
Mr. K. Thejomoorthy, Chief Pharmacist, RDT Hospital
Prescribing multivitamin pills or tonics to
every one is an expensive practice for the
public. Education regarding nutrition is
vitally important with signboards for illiter-
ates, Generally lot off illiterates has got
wrong notion that, by mere taking multivi-
tamin syrups, they will become healthy, it
is important to educate all type of patients
about the god’s gifted natural pharmacy
like fruits, vegetables cereals etc with
pictorial diagram and its therapeutic bene-
fits, But a vitamin supplement is not a
substitute for a healthy lifestyle or diet.1
Better than the saying, “an apple keeps the
doctor away”, we could say “a guava fruit
(Jamakaya) keeps the doctor away”. It
contains three times higher Vitamin C than
an apple.2 Because of mainly three reasons
the whole food is better than dietary sup-
plements: Greater nutrition, essential fiber
RIPER PD IC B U LLETIN
maceutical industry is really References:
successful for providing 1. Uwe Perlitz, India’s Pharma-
abundant employment oppor- ceutical Industry on Course of
tunities and providing essen- Globalization, Deutsche Bank
tial medicines much eco- Research, Asia, April 9, 2008:1-
nomically. 12.
Many Indian companies 2. Biophonics, The Outlook for
maintain highest standards the Biotech Sector in the Post-
in Purity, Stability and Genomic Era, Business Insights,
2003.
International Safety, Health
and Environmental (SHE)
protection in production and
supply of bulk drugs even to
some innovator companies.
India holds the lion's share
of the world's contract re-
search business as activity
in the pharma market con-
tinues to explode in this
region.
and other protective substances ments – nutrition in a pill,
to the body. www.mayoclinic.com/health/
There are upper and lower lev- supplements/NU00198 (retrieved
els for a vital nutrient. The on 14/07/2010)
lower level may produce defi- 2. The natural food hub, Natural
ciency and the upper level may food-Fruit Vitamin C Content,
produce toxicity to the body. http://www.naturalhub.com/
Many of the people need nutri- natual_food_guide_fruit_vitami
tional variations at several n_c.htm (retrieved on
times which are tough to man- 25/07/2010).
age with whole food alone.
Nutritional supplements are
rational only when there is
specific nutritional gap to be
filled. Otherwise, the whole food
is filling the multitudes of nutri-
tional requirements, which are
difficult to explain completely.
References:
1. MayoClinc, Dietary Supple-
VO LUME 1, ISS UE 1
Introducing Drug Information Centre at Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council
— Mr. G. Narayana, Asst. Professor, RIPER
Maharashtra State Pharmacy
Council has started its Drug
Information Centre (DIC) to
disseminate unbiased drug
information to healthcare pro-
fessionals. MSPC’s DIC is a
registered member of IRDIS, an
International Register of Drug
Information Services and also a
member of INDIA-DRUG group.
The centre keeps itself updated
with other eminent groups
working in health related area.
This Drug Information Centre
will provide in-depth, unbiased
source of crucial drug informa-
tion to meet the needs of the
ALISKIREN, a new drug in hypertension —
Ms. B. Sahithi, Pharm D Student, RIPER
Aliskiren is the first in a class of
drugs called direct renin inhibitor.
Its current licensed indication is
primary hypertension. It was co-
developed by the Swiss pharma-
ceutical companies Novartis and
Speedel. It was approved by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
in 2007. Aliskiren may have
renoprotective effects that are
Intravenous Paracetamol, risk of toxicity —
Sr. Sophy, Nursing Superintentent, RDT Hospital.
Some commercially available
formulations of paracetamol
contain sulfites that may cause
allergic type reactions, includ-
ing anaphylaxis & life threaten-
ing or less severe asthmatic
episodes, in susceptible indi-
viduals.1 Asthmatic patients
are more susceptible than
others. So if IV paracetamol is
given in susceptible individuals’
management of allergic reac-
practicing physicians, pharma-
cists and other health care
professionals.
Promotion of safe, effective,
rational and economic use of
drugs by the patients.
DIC has released a software
called Drug Interaction Checker
for Prescription (DICP) made
for Pharmacists, Doctors and
Patients. This software analy-
ses Drug-Drug interaction
against prescription and lists
found interactions with risk
rating and advice.
independent of its blood pres-
sure−lowering effect in patients
with hypertension, type 2 diabe-
tes, and nephropathy who are
receiving the recommended reno-
protective treatment. Aliskiren is
contraindicated in Pregnancy,
Lactation, Impaired Renal func-
tion, Renal Artery Stenosis. With
other antihypertensive drugs, the
tions is tough compared to oral
paracetamol. The susceptible
individuals die more often if
given IV than oral paracetamol.
Common route of paracetamol
administration is oral. Rectal
route can also be used. Great
care should be executed before
giving paracetamol IV injection
or infusion. If anaphylaxis
reactions occur in some suscep-
tible patients, it may be fatal.
PAGE 3
CONTACT: Drug Information
Centre
Maharashtra State Pharmacy
Council.
E.S.I.S. Hospital Compound,
L.B.S. Marg, Mulund (W),
Mumbai – 400 080.
Maharashtra, India
Phone : +91-22-25930607, 91-
22-32678098
FAX: +91-22-25684418
E Mail : dicmspc@gmail.com,
dicmspc@yahoo.co.in
Visit official website of MSPC
at www.mspcindia.org
Courtesy of information :
www.mspcindia.org
body increases renin production
which drives blood pressure up
again. Its better to inhibit
renin directly; aliskiren is the
first drug to do so.
References: 1. Aliskiren, available at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
druginfo/meds/a607039.html
2. Aliskiren, available at: http://
www.drugs.com/ppa/aliskiren.html
Also to avoid overdose,
intravenous paracetamol should
not be given concomitantly with
oral paracetamol, including
combination products.2
Reference: 1. AHFS Drug Informa-
tion 2008, section 28/08/92.
2. WHO Pharmaceuticals Newslet-
ter No. 4, 2010; 9
 The RIPER is the premier educational institution

promoted by Raghavendra Educational & Rural De-

velopment Society. The college is established in

Raghavendra Institute of
Pharmaceutical Education and 2002 under the leadership of four pharmacy
Research (RIPER) graduates including Dr. Y. Padmanabha Reddy and
K. R. Palli Cross, Chiyyedu P.O., Anantapur, Dr. J. Ravindra Reddy. Now the college is offering
A.P. India 515721
M. Pharm, B. Pharm, D. Pharm, Pharm D and Pharm
Phone: 08554-255548
Fax: 08554-255646
E-Mail: riperdruginfo@gmail.com
D (PB) courses approved by AICTE, PCI and Govt.

of AP. The college is affiliated to JNT University,

www.riper.ac.in
Anantapur (JNTUA) / SBTET, AP.

Pharm D Workshop on August 19-20, 2010

We are conducting two day
workshop on “Pharm D —
Global Perspectives”. Dr.
S.S. Rao, Pharmacist from
Canada, Dr. A. N. Nagappa,
Professor, Manipal Univer-
sity, Dr. Hidayatulla
Pathan, Surgeon, RDT Hos-
pital, A.P. are the resource
persons. On August 19th
the workshop will be con-
ducted at RDT Hospital,
Bathalapalli, Anantapur
(Dt), A. P. And on August
20th the workshop will be
conducted at RIPER cam-
pus, Anantapur.

Prof. Dr. C.K. KOKATE as Chief Guest on our Annual Day

Visit of a Pharmacist from Spain to RIPER