The Delhi High Court today sought the response of the Centre on a medical institute's plea challenging the government's orders restraining it from providing an advanced cancer treatment on the ground that it had not obtained the requisite permission.
Dendritic cell based cancer immunotherapy is a treatment provided to stage IV cancer patients by harvesting their blood cells and processing them to produce dendritic cells which are then given back to the afflicted to optimally activate their immune system, the institute has said.
Such cells identify a foreign substance, including cancer cells, and then jumpstart the immune response by bringing the foreign substance to the attention of the rest of the immune system. This link of passing information is missing in the case of cancer and that is why the disease sets in, the petition has said.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru issued notice to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Directorate General of Health Services on the plea of Institute of Cellular Therapies Pvt Ltd here.
While issuing notice, the court said that the "main controversy is whether the product, which is harvested from the patient's blood and injected by the petitioner (institute) into the patient, can be construed as a drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act..."
The institute, in its plea filed through advocate Anand Nandan, has said that the treatment is offered to stage IV cancer patients, including those who have exhausted all other types of therapy/medicines.
During the brief hearing, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain said that despite the government orders, which are under challenge, the institute has not stopped providing the treatment to its patients.
In its orders of July 23 and September 15, this year, the government had directed the institute "to stop collection of blood from any new patients for processing and packaging of the product-dendritic cell- with immediate effect and providing the same to patents till further orders".
