The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to the Central India, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and NITI Aayog regarding reconsideration of the prevalent treatment protocol for a mild case of COVID-19 and modify the treatment protocol in COVID-19.
The Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh dismissed the petition and also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner.
The court showed displeasure with the petition and said the respondents have enough experts to take a decision regarding protocols.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, appearing for the Central government, also opposed the petition and said various petitions are coming to the respondents and giving suggestions.
Vivek Sheel Aggarwal (Chairman, Niramaya Research) along with Dr Sanjay Jain (MS, Orthopaedics), Dr Anu Garg (MD, Paediatrics) and Bhasvar Aggarwal (Independent Researcher) are the petitioners in the PIL filed through advocates Praveen K Sharma and Amitesh Bakshi.
The plea stated that expert also has suggested that use of Paracetamol, Antibiotics and Steroids in the treatment of COVID-19 should be restricted as rampant use of these medicines is wreaking havoc on the immune system of the body of any individual thereby leading to the deterioration of cases from mild to moderate and severe.
Appearing for petitioners, senior Advocate Sacchin Puri mentioned that there has been no clinical trial on the efficacy and safety of antipyretics usage in the treatment and management of viral infections especially COVID-19.
It also states that all the medical literature and also clinical trials in animals, suggest against the use of it and appeal to hold clinical trials.
"The new hypothesis by Niramaya Research suggests that the immunomodulatory effects of the medication being prescribed tamper and damage the homeostatic mechanism of the human immune system leading to complications and shows the correlation of the same complications in COVID-19 related Mortalities," the plea stated.
The petition sought direction to ICMR to investigate and hold clinical trials and change the treatment protocols, if necessary.
It also stated that the treatment protocol issued by the ICMR and practiced by doctors is totally in contrast to what the researches in top medical journals suggest that "disruption of Homeostatic Mechanisms of Immune system is caused due to the treatment protocol in mild to moderate cases in Covid-19: High Dosage of Paracetamol leads to GSH depletion, increase in oxidative stress and disruption of Homeostatic mechanisms of the immune system".
The plea also stated that the petitioners have made representations to the respondents which have not been considered and delay in consideration of treatment protocol modification shall cost many lives.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU