LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday rejected challenges to the jurisdiction of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) to regulate the medical devices.
The Johnson & Johnson (Pvt) Limited and several other companies had filed petitions challenging the legality and authority of Drap to regulate the medical devices. They also challenged Medical Devices Rules, 2017 for being excessive essentially on the ground that the Medical Devices Board was without the required authority under the Drap Act.
The petitioners sought a declaration that Drap be permanently restrained from interfering in the manufacture, import and sale of medical devices.
The petitioners/companies included importers, exporters and manufacturers of the medical devices ranging from devices related to the Covid-19, such as masks, oximeters, shields and gloves, to devices related to cosmetic surgery, in-vitro diagnostic devices, ultrasound, sutures, stents, legatures, disposable syringes, stapler guns to life-saving medical devices.