Kerala Official’s Suicide: Kannur Medical College employee suspended for service rule Violations

The Director of Medical Education (DME) recently suspended a staff member at Kannur Government Medical College on grounds of taking unauthorized leave, serious breach of discipline and misconduct. This staff member had previously lodged complaints with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, alleging bribery against former Kannur ADM Naveen Babu.
It was after the ADM committed suicide that a report emerged that Prasanth had complained to CM Vijayan that it was only after he paid a bribe of Rs 98,500 to Babu that he got the final sanction of a petrol pump for which he had applied in Kannur.

For more information, click on the link below:

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Crackdown on Meerut Hospitals: 13 licenses revoked, 2 suspended

In a major crackdown on the healthcare facilities in Meerut, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the district issued orders and revoked the licenses of 13 private hospitals and suspended two others.
Action was taken against these hospitals after complaints were lodged alleging medical negligence and insufficient healthcare staff, TOI has reported.

For more information, click on the link below:

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18 students of Tripura Medical College booked for ragging

Altogether 18 students of Tripura Medical College, Hapania, Agartala have been booked for complaints of ragging, including threatening to shave the heads of their juniors, forcing female students to propose to their seniors. FIR was lodged against them after the college administration filed a complaint against them. Apart from being booked, the students have also been asked to pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh, and they have also been suspended from the hostels for one year. Further, their mobile phones will be monitored for six months, TOI has reported.
After the victims filed complaints before an Anti-Ragging NGO, Society Against Violence in Education, the NGO complained to the college and the UGC Anti-Ragging helpline.

For more information, click on the link below:

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NEET: MCC Issues Notice for state counselling authorities to Weed out of Allotted candidates, Details

New Delhi: Through a recent notice, the MCC (Medical Counselling Committee) has directed all State Counselling Authorities to weed out the allotted candidates of AIQ before seat processing of stray vacancy round of state counselling so that candidates allotted a seat in AIQ are not reallotted any seat through state counselling

In its notice to all NEET UG  Candidates & State Counselling Authorities for weeding out the allotted candidates, the MCC said, “As per directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Contempt Petition© No. 289 of 2022 in W.P No. 223 of 2022 Shubhankar Patnaik Vs. K. Ramesh Reddy & Ors. the filtering out of All India Quota candidates is mandatory before stray vacancy round of state UG counselling. In view of above, it is informed that the final result of Stray Vacancy Round of UG Counselling 2024 conducted by MCC has already been published and there is no provision of resignation in this round. Hence, all state counselling authorities are requested to weed out the allotted candidates of AIQ before seat processing of stray vacancy round of state counselling so that candidates allotted a seat in AIQ are not reallotted any seat through state counselling.”

“State counselling authorities can download the list of allotted candidates of AIQ Stray Vacancy Round from the data sharing portal of MCC,” it further said,

Also Read:MCC Removes 6 MBBS, BDS Seats from NEET 2024 Stray Vacancy Round, Details

MCC started the NEET UG stray vacancy round counselling 2024 from 22nd October 2024. In this regard, MCC has released a notice requesting all the state counselling authorities to share the data of joined candidates of all rounds held so far on the intramcc portal provided by MCC latest upto 05:00 P.M of 25 October 2024 so that candidates holding a seat in state colleges are weeded out before seat processing of Stray Vacancy Round of All India UG counselling being conducted by MCC.

To view the official Notice, Click here :  https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/2024103089-258863.pdf

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Health Bulletin 30/ October/ 2024

Here are the top health news for the day: 

NMC allows NBE to help create state-specific ranks for NEET PG in-service quota admissions
Noting that several states are facing difficulty in giving incentive marks to in-service candidates due to change in the NEET PG exam pattern this year, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has decided to permit the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to allow the States to create State-specific ranks only for the consumption of the State Quota seats for the NEET PG Counselling 2024.
NMC took this decision based on the directions given by the Union Health Ministry and to prevent any further delays in the NEET PG Counselling. Previously, States used to add incentive marks to the Score provided by NBE to create a State-specific rank. However, they faced a hurdle in providing such incentivization to in-service candidates because of the change in the exam pattern by NBEMS this year.

For more information, click on the link below:


Himachal youth arrested for submitting fake NEET result to gain admission to AIIMS Madurai
With a motive to gain admission at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Madurai, a 22-year-old medical aspirant allegedly produced a fake NEET certificate following which he was arrested recently by the Kenikarai Police in Ramanathapuram district.
According to the police, the aspirant, a resident of Gangoti (PO) of Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh attempted for NEET twice but failed to pass the entrance examination for the last three years. Later, he managed to score only 60 marks out of 700 in one of his attempts this year but didn’t want to disappoint his father and therefore, he created a fake scorecard with 689 marks.

For more information, click on the link below:


10 medical students expelled for ragging 13 first-year MBBS students at Rajasthan’s Medical College
After being found guilty of ragging 13 MBBS first-year students at Shri Jagannath Pahadiya Medical College in Bharatpur, the administration recently expelled ten senior medical students seven women and three men for a week.
The accused senior students have been prohibited from utilizing the college library, playground, and gym for one month as part of the penalty, and are also debarred from attending college classes for one week.

For more information, click on the link below:


Female patient files FIR against doctor for alleged molestation and death threats
A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against a doctor following allegations from a female patient who accused him of molestation during her visit to his private clinic located in the Dubagga Malaha area of Lucknow. The patient also claimed that the doctor threatened her with death if she revealed the incident to anyone.
According to the complainant, the incident took place around 8 p.m. when she went to the clinic seeking treatment for a fever. After she entered the clinic for consultation, she noticed that only the doctor was present at the clinic.

For more information, click on the link below:

Female Patient Accuses Doctor of Molestation, Death Threat; FIR Filed

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Medical Bulletin 30/ October/ 2024

Here are the top medical news for the day:

What Makes Multiply Recurrent Meningiomas Most Aggressive Form of Brain Cancer? Study Finds
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified clinical and genetic predictors of multiply recurrent meningiomas (MRMs), a most aggressive form of this common brain tumor. Published in Science Advances, the study opens new opportunities for future development of potential biomarkers and therapeutic agents for these challenging tumors.
The team studied the tumors of 1,186 patients with primary meningiomas. Thirty-one of these primary tumors went on to be multiply recurrent meningiomas. The researchers compared clinical and genetic characteristics of multiply recurrent meningiomas with those of non-recurrent meningiomas (NRM). “We found that, compared to non recurrent meningiomas, multiply recurrent meningiomas are more numerous, larger and more common in men than in women,” said co-senior and co-corresponding author Dr. Akash J. Patel, associate professor of neurosurgery and member of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor.
The researchers analyzed the chromosomes of the tumors and found that multiply recurrent meningiomas have greater chromosomal instability and loss than non-aggressive meningiomas. “It has been well established that chromosomal instability is present in many human cancers and that increased instability has been associated with more aggressive cancers,” Patel said. In addition, the researchers found increased DNA methylation in multiply recurrent meningiomas genomes, an indication that the expression of certain genes is different in these tumors.
Reference: Sangami Pugazenthi et al., Multiomic and clinical analysis of multiply recurrent meningiomas reveals risk factors, underlying biology, and insights into evolution.Sci. Adv.10,eadn4419(2024).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adn4419
Editing Faulty Genes Before Birth? Biomedical Tool May Help
A new study shows that a biomedical tool can successfully deliver genetic material to edit faulty genes in developing fetal brain cells. A complex transportation system with a revolutionary delivery method. The scientists found a way to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) to cells that will be translated to functional proteins. This delivery method uses a unique lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulation to carry mRNA. The objective is to introduce or transfect mRNA genetic material into the cells. The mRNA then would translate instructions to build proteins.
In a recent Nature Nanotechnology paper, Wang, Murthy and their team described a new lipid nanoparticle formulation to safely and efficiently deliver mRNA. lipid nanoparticle carrying mRNA need to arrive at the cells, where they will be taken in through a process known as endocytosis. There, the cell breaks the lipid nanoparticle carrier, which allows the mRNA cargo to be released. The study showed that the lipid nanoparticle method is more efficient at mRNA translation, reducing the need for potentially toxic doses.
The researchers injected the lipid nanoparticle with the mRNA into the fetal brain’s ventricles in a mouse model. The mRNA translates into CAS9, a protein that works like scissors for gene editing. The produced CAS9 will edit the gene responsible for Angelman syndrome. The study showed that the lipid nanoparticle tool was very efficient in delivering the mRNA that translated into CAS 9.
Using tracers, the researchers could see all the neurons that were edited inside the brain. Their study showed that the nanoparticles were taken up by the brain’s developing neural stem and progenitor cells. The nanoparticles led to gene edits in 30% of the brain stem cells in the mouse model. In the study, as the fetal development continued, the stem cells proliferated and migrated to form the central nervous system.
Reference: Widespread Gene Editing in the Brain via In Utero Delivery of mRNA Using Acid-Degradable Lipid Nanoparticles. Kewa Gao, Hesong Han, Matileen G. Cranick, Sheng Zhao, Shanxiu Xu, Boyan Yin, Hengyue Song, Yibo Hu, Maria T. Clarke, David Wang, Jessica M. Wong, Zehua Zhao, Benjamin W. Burgstone, Diana L. Farmer, Niren Murthy, and Aijun Wang. ACS Nano Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c05169
Use of GLP-1 Drugs to Treat Obesity Doubled: Researchers
A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Brown School of Public Health, examined a large sample of privately insured patients with obesity and found that use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) as anti-obesity medications more than doubled from 2022 to 2023. During the same period, there was a 25.6% decrease in patients undergoing metabolic bariatric surgery to treat obesity. The study is published in JAMA Network Open.
Using a national sample of medical insurance claims data from over 17 million privately insured adults, the researchers identified patients with a diagnosis of obesity without diabetes in 2022-2023. The study found a sharp increase in the share of patients who received GLP-1 Receptor agonists during the study period, with GLP-1 receptor agonist use increasing 132.6% from the last six months of 2022 to the last six months of 2023. Meanwhile, there was a 25.6% decrease in use of bariatric metabolic surgery during the same period.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Researchers from Mass General Brigham and collaborators assessed national trends in the number of patients with obesity prescribed GLP-1 drugs and the number who underwent metabolic bariatric surgery.
Researchers documented a 132.6% increase in patients prescribed GLP-1 drugs between 2022 and 2023, and a 25.6% decrease in patients undergoing bariatric surgery.
Only 6% of patients with obesity in the study population received either GLP-1 drugs or surgery, suggesting that many more patients could be receiving treatment.
Reference: Lin K et al. “Metabolic Bariatric Surgery in the Era of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists for Obesity Management” JAMA Network Open DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.41380

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MCC NEET 2024 Stray vacancy Round Final Results Announced

New Delhi- The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has released the Final result of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET UG) Stray Vacancy Round Counselling 2024.

As per the result, a total of 1058 students have been declared qualified for NEET UG Stray Vacancy Round Counselling 2024. The Final result has been declared on the official website of MCC, candidates can download and view the final result attached below.

Final Allotment Result for Stray Vacancy Round UG Counselling 2024 :  https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/2024103043-258860.pdf

SCHEDULE

S.NO

SCHEDULE FOR ADMISSION

ALL INDIA QUOTA/DEEMED & CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES

SHARING OF JOINED CANDIDATE’S DATA BY MCC

STATE COUNSELLING

SHARING OF JOINED CANDIDATE’S DATA BY STATES

1

Ist Round of Counselling.

14th August, 2024 to 23rd August Aug, 2024

30th Aug to 31st Aug, 2024

21st Aug to 29th Aug, 2024

6th to 7th Sept., 2024

2

Last date of Joining.

The last date of Joining is 17th July 2024.

–

25th July, 2024.

–

3

2nd round of Counselling.

5th Sept., 2024 to 13th Sept., 2024

21st Sept. To 22nd Sept. 2024

11th Sept., 2024 to 20th Sept., 2024

27th Sept to 28th Sept., 2024

4

Last date of joining.

20th Sept, 2024

–

26th Sept, 2024

–

5

Round-3.

26th Sept., 2024 to 5th Oct., 2024

13th Oct., to 15th Oct., 2024

3rd Oct., 2024 to 12th Oct., 2024

19th Oct., 2024

6

Last date of joining.

12th Oct., 2024

–

18th Oct., 2024

–

7

Stray Vacancy.

16th Oct., 2024 to 23rd Oct., 2024

–

21st Oct., 2024 to 25th Oct., 2024

–

Last date of joining.

30th Oct., 2024

–

30th Oct., 2024

–

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Fortis trademark to be auctioned: HC order

New Delhi: In connection with the Rs 3,500 crore arbitral award passed in favour of Daiichi Sankyo and against the former Ranbaxy promoters, the Delhi High Court has ordered the auction of the trademark of Fortis.

The order was passed by Justice Sachin Datta in response to an application filed by Daiichi Sankyo, seeking the sale of the Fortis trademark, owned by RHC Healthcare Management Services Pvt Ltd which is one of the judgment debtors in the matter.

 The application was filed in a petition by Daiichi Sankyo seeking execution of a ₹3,500-crore Singapore tribunal arbitral award passed in its favour and against brothers Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, former promoters of Fortis Healthcare, in April 2016.

“The Joint Registrar concerned of this court shall proceed with the public auction of the aforesaid asset of the judgment debtors viz. the Fortis trademark, and shall issue a proclamation…,” said the court.

According to PTI, the court order noted the joint and several liability of the judgment debtors as on date was stated to be to the tune of around ₹4,900 crore.

The counsel for the decree holder submitted despite the best efforts, only a small fraction amount had been realised by the decree holders so far.

It was submitted if the Fortis trademark was allowed to be auctioned, it was expected that at least an amount in the range of ₹191.5 crore could be realised.

Although Fortis Hospitals Ltd had raised objections earlier, its counsel later submitted there was no objection on its part to the auction of the trademark and requested the court to decide the plea.

The counsel for the judgment debtors also did not oppose the proposed auction of the Fortis marks.

However, some of them raised the issue of valuation of the trademark and urged prior to the auction, an auditor should be appointed to carry out the optimum valuation.

The high court said there was no merit in the contention and it wasn’t appropriate to accede to the request to appoint an auditor prior to the auction.

The court asked the Joint Registrar to submit a report before it on the conclusion of the auction process and said the sale would be confirmed and concluded after the receipt of its permission.

A tribunal in Singapore had passed an arbitral award of ₹3,500 crore in 2016 in favour of Daiichi and had ordered the Singh brothers to pay the damages for concealing information about their company facing a probe by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Justice while selling its shares.

On January 31, 2018, the high court had upheld the international arbitral award passed in the favour of Daiichi Sankyo and paved the way for enforcement of the 2016 tribunal award against the brothers who had sold their shares in Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 for ₹9,576.1 crore.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd had subsequently acquired the company from Daiichi Sankyo.

The high court had, however, said the award was not enforceable against five minors, also shareholders in Ranbaxy, as they couldn’t be held guilty of having perpetuated a fraud either themselves or through any agent.

Daiichi Sankyo had moved the Delhi high court seeking a direction to the brothers to take steps towards paying its ₹3,500 crore arbitration award, including depositing the amount. It had also urged the high court to attach their assets, which may be used to recover the award.

On February 16, 2018, the Supreme Court had dismissed the appeal of the Singh brothers against the high court verdict upholding the international arbitral award.

The brothers had argued the award granted consequential damages which were beyond the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal and it couldn’t be enforced under the provision of the Arbitration Act.

They had claimed Daiichi Sankyo was fully aware of all facts and still chose to retain the Ranbaxy shares, instead of terminating the agreement and returning them.

Read also: HC directs Radha Soami Chief, others to pay Rs 6000 crore to Singh Brothers for settling Ranbaxy-Daichii dispute

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Medtronic bags USFDA approval of Affera Mapping and Ablation System and Sphere-9 Catheter

Medtronic plc has announced United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Affera Mapping and Ablation System with Sphere-9 Catheter, an all-in-one, high-density (HD) mapping and pulsed field (PF) and radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter for treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (AFib) and for RF ablation of cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) dependent atrial flutter.

With this approval, Medtronic is now the first and only company with two PFA technologies available for patients with Afib.

According to the company, the PulseSelect Pulsed Field Ablation System, which was FDA approved in December 2023, offers physicians a safe, single-shot solution for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) while the Affera Sphere-9 catheter enables physician treatment flexibility with its wide area focal design and 9mm lattice tip that can used with an 8.5Fr sheath.

“The significance of this innovative technology should be underscored; Affera is a game changer for treatment of Afib and atrial flutter,” said Vivek Reddy, M.D., Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. “The Affera system provides physicians with one safe, effective and efficient solution to this common and increasing problem in heart disease that needs optimized solutions for patients. With a short learning curve for experienced physicians, the possibilities are boundless for the treatment of Afib.”

With a trailblazing design, the Sphere-9 catheter offers physicians the option of both PF and RF energy delivery, fully integrated with the Affera Mapping and Ablation System. The Sphere-9 catheter enhances workflow efficiency for physicians while providing excellent safety and efficacy outcomes.

“The Affera system was designed to address procedural challenges faced by the electrophysiology community while maintaining a high standard of safety and efficacy for patients. By enabling a single transeptal, zero-fluoroscopy, and zero-exchange workflow, the Sphere-9 catheter uniquely integrates both mapping and ablation technologies, offering the flexibility to use either pulsed field or radiofrequency energy,” said Doron Harlev, vice president of engineering for Cardiac Ablation Solutions at Medtronic and founder of Affera. “This marks an exciting milestone for the field, with Medtronic’s robust innovation pipeline poised to drive continued progress.”

The approval was based on excellent results demonstrated in the pivotal SPHERE Per-AF study, an FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) trial, which compared the Sphere-9 catheter with the Affera Mapping and Ablation System to the conventional Thermocool SmartTouch SF radiofrequency ablation catheter with the Carto™*3 System. The Affera Mapping and Ablation System and Sphere-9 catheter also received CE Mark in March 2023 and was approved in Australia in September 2024. In October 2024, Medtronic announced the start of an early feasibility study to evaluate the Sphere-9 catheter for treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT), a cardiac arrhythmia in which the lower chamber of the heart beats abnormally fast.

“At Medtronic, we have a 75-year tradition of bringing disruptive innovation to market, guided by our mission and commitment to address the unmet needs of patients. With the approval of Affera, we are excited to bring a novel mapping and ablation solution to clinicians that is intended to make atrial fibrillation treatment safer, more effective, and more efficient,” said Rebecca Seidel, president of the Cardiac Ablation Solutions business, which is part of the Medtronic Cardiovascular Portfolio. “The potential of Affera is limitless. We will continue to fulfill our commitment to innovation, including new indications, to advance cardiovascular care and improve patient outcomes.”

AFib is one of the most common and undertreated heart rhythm disorders, affecting more than 60 million people worldwide. Afib is a progressive disease, often beginning as paroxsymal AFib (presents intermittently) and progressing to persistent (lasts for more than 7+ days without stopping). As the disease progresses, the risk of serious complications including heart failure, stroke and risk of death increases.

Read also: Philips, Medtronic Ink Advocacy Partnership to Enhance Stroke Care Access

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Pune: Doctor treats bullet injured dacoits, now to be booked as Dacoit himself

Aurangabad: A doctor at a private clinic in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, who provided treatment to two suspects wounded by gunfire during a sandalwood robbery attempt on a street close to Law College Road, is about to face legal charges for providing medical aid to them without notifying the authorities.

According to the police, the doctor will likely be booked in the same dacoity case as he failed to inform the police about the two individuals. He allegedly treated two men who were part of the dacoity and sustained injuries to their right legs after the police opened fire at them. 

Also read- No BMC registration, Doctor booked for running private hospital

Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar told TOI, “We will book the doctor in the same dacoity case for treating the two injured men for bullet wounds, but not informing the police.”  

Another police officer said, “The two went to a private clinic in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The doctor should have informed the local police while treating them, but he neglected his duty. We have decided to make him an accused in the case.” 

The incident of dacoity took place around 2:30 am on October 22 when two constables were patrolling near Law College Road when they spotted two men on a motorcycle chatting. They told the men to leave, but the duo turned back and yelled at the constables. 

Suddenly, four additional men emerged from a fence near an old bungalow and charged at the officers. It came to light that one of the constables was attacked with a hacksaw and sustained injuries. In self-defence, Tambe fired a few rounds. 

The police believe the six men, spread across two motorcycles, were attempting to steal a sandalwood tree from a bungalow in the lane. Following the incident, Deccan Gymkhana police arrested one of the suspects from Abhai village in Sillod tehsil of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. 

During questioning, he revealed that two brothers involved in the dacoity had sustained injuries to their right legs after being hit by bullets. The suspect informed the police that the injured men had sought treatment at a private clinic in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. However, the doctor who treated their bullet wounds did not notify the authorities as required.

As per the TOI news report, the police are in search of the other five suspects from Janjal village in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The matter of including the doctor in the case is not yet finalised and is underway. 

Also read- Quack booked for running illegal clinic since 2016 using forged PhD Degree

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