The average percentage variations of different brands of the same anti-cancer drug in same dose and dosage form manufactured in India is very wide. The government and drug manufacturing companies must direct their efforts in reducing the cost of anti-cancer drugs and minimizing the economic burden on the patients.

Background: Aluminium, one of the abundant elements present in nature enters human body through diet, food packaging material and medication. Aluminium can induce toxicity by causing oxidative damage and by altering the function of membrane bound ATPases, Salacia oblonga, a woody climbing plant with vast geographical distribution in India possess various biological functions. Previous studies have shown a protective effect of S. oblonga on Al induced visceral toxicity. Our aim is to evaluate the effect of S. oblonga extract on aluminium induced oxidative organ damage and haematological changes Methods: The experimental animals, Wistar albino rats, were divided into four groups of 6 per group. The four groups are divided into distilled water, Aluminium chloride, Salacia oblonga extract and aluminium and Salacia oblonga. On 37th day animals were sacrificed and organs and blood were collected for assessment of ATPase activity, protein levels and haematological parameters. Results: Salacia oblonga increased the ATPase activity in the brain, heart and lungs, improved the protein levels and haematological parameters which were deteriorated by Al toxicity. Though statistically insignificant S. oblonga improved the ATPase enzymes and haematological parameters. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that Aluminium causes membrane damage in various organs by altering the membrane ATPases level as a result of oxidative stress and altered the haematological parameters. We demonstrated that S. oblonga ameliorates Al induced membrane toxicity and also confers hemoprotective effect.

Fixed drug eruption (FDE) is described as the development of one or more annular or oval erythematous patches as a result of systemic exposure to a drug; these reactions normally resolve with hyperpigmentation and may recur at the same site with re-exposure to the drug. Repeated exposure to the offending drug may cause new lesions to develop in addition to lighting up the older hyperpigmented lesions. Here we present an interesting case of satranidazole induced FDE with a past history of FDE to the same drug 5 months back. Since the eruption occurred in the same site on re-exposure to the same drug, a diagnosis of FDE was made and causality assessment by Naranjo adverse drug reaction probability scale showed a certain relationship between the cutaneous adverse reaction and the offending drug

Targeted cancer therapies, a recent development in cancer chemotherapy are drugs that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules which are responsible for the progression of cancer, among which tyrosine kinase inhibitors play an important role. Erlotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets the epidermal growth factor receptor and is a promising drug for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancers and unresectable metastatic pancreatic cancers. Adverse drug reactions are noxious and unintended responses to drugs that occur at doses normally used in man. Cancer chemotherapeutics are well known to cause a wide range of adverse effects from mild to serious ones. All anticancer drugs cause alopecia, gastrointestinal disturbances, skin and hair changes as they affect all the rapidly proliferating cells in addition to cancer cells. Erlotinib causes some less serious adverse effects, one of which is trichomegaly which is presented here in this case report. Though adverse reactions are generally undesirable, trichomegaly induced by erlotinib could be considered as a marker of good tumor response to treatment and a positive outcome. Moreover, this adverse effect could be exploited in the treatment of madarosis for which currently, treatment options are very few.