Summary:
The sale of steroid creams is over half a billion dollar business, with almost two-thirds of which are sold without prescription. Many of India’s 800,000 pharmacists sell steroid creams without a prescription, ignoring the box warnings, it added. The petition filed by Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL), a leading official body of dermatologists and skin specialists, sought a ban on manufacturing and sale of several skin creams containing steroids that are marketed for skin conditions like pigmentation, itching, fairness and inflammation. The petition deals with the misuse of topical corticosteroids, a class of drugs used for treating a variety of skin diseases. It also said that supposedly herbal creams such as Meglow Premium fairness cream and Pearl Beauty Whitening fairness cream also contain steroids..