Once approved, the provision will be a part of the Drug and Cosmetics Act. Under the existing system, if a drug is found substandard, the drug inspector can initiate legal action against the manufacturer.

The proposal to reimburse people affected by faulty medical devices will be taken up at the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), scheduled a week from today.

The decision was taken after drug makers filed a petition, saying that these drugs were being manufactured since 1988. They cited the SC's earlier relief to 15 manufacturers on the bases of the similar grounds, saying that they should also be exempted from the ban.

As the industry is trying to digest the development, not totally unexpected though, there are fresh concerns on what could come next as the ministry-appointed Prof Kokate Expert committee had discussed banning many more FDC drugs.

India reportedly boasts around 2,000 FDCs, four times more that what's available in the US.

The FDC medicines are two or more drugs contained in a single dosage form. The health ministry says it took the decision to ban these drugs after the Drugs Technical Advisory Board suggested these drugs might pose a risk to human beings.

6,000 medicine brands worth about Rs 2,500-odd crore are likely to be banned soon.

The drugs under question are 349 fixed dose combinations drugs containing two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients in a fixed dosage ratio, which are floating in the Rs 1.1-lakh crore Indian drug market.

The medical devices that are already in this list are cardiac stents, syringes, needles, perfusion sets, HIV diagnostic kits, heart valves, orthopedic implants, blood component bags, etc.

The court's observation came during a hearing that challenged a Delhi High Court order that had quashed the government ban on technical grounds.

The Centre's decision to allow chemists to sell homeopathic medicines could be a significant move. Here's why.