SCTIMST hails Health Ministry guidelines on Plasma Therapy

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], April 29 (ANI): Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), the first national institute in the country to get nod from Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting Plasma Therapy, has welcomed the new guidelines recommended by Health Ministry for undertaking clinical trials in Plasma Therapy.
Dr Asha Kishore, director SCTIMST, said that plasma therapy is an experimental treatment and is offered in other countries such as USA only for restricted use.
"Plasma therapy is an experimental treatment only for restricted use and with regulatory approvals in each case. It should not be offered except as a clinical trial supervised by ICMR in India," Kishore told ANI.
Explaining the medical side and dangers of giving approvals in large scale she said, "It is not a proven therapy to be used without approval of DCGI or health ministry. There would be a lot of malpractices and misuse if clinical trials are conducted without the supervision of a government expert body like ICMR in India."
She said the Plasma Therapy should have a protocol driven clinical trial approach so that all ethical practices are followed.
"It was surprising to read reports of its use in many states in the last few days," she told. (ANI)