Kriti Agrawal –
Centre’s plea that Amphotericin-B, one of the drugs used to treat black fungus, was freely available in the market surprised the Delhi High Court.
When the Court stated that, if the medicine was plentiful, there should not have been so many deaths, the counsel responded that people were dying not because of a lack of drugs, but because the sickness itself is dangerous.
In response to the Court’s observation that about one-third of those affected by black fungus has died, central government standing counsel Kirtiman Singh claimed that people are not dying for lack of medications, or there would have been a lot more noise.
The argument was rejected by a bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh, who stated, “There is already a lot of noise, and if you prefer not to hear it, that is your option.”
During the hearing, the High Court expressed satisfaction with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines on possible treatment choices for black fungus, for which Liposomal Amphotericin-B is the medicine of choice, and requested that the expert body examine the guidelines.
Central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, appearing for ICMR informed the Court that, young patients and those in whom surgical surgery is not possible or incomplete are the criteria for prioritizing patients for administering Liposomal Amphotericin-B for treating mucormycosis (black fungus).
The ICMR’s latest instructions were drafted in response to a June 1 court’s order in which the Court asked a series of questions on the treatment of black fungus.
The guidelines cover all therapeutic options as well as preventative strategies, such as proper co-morbidity management.
