Delay in patents can slow down improvement in medicine: Experts

Mumbai : Delay in the patents for various innovations can slow down the improvement in the field of medicine, said health experts here.

According to them, there is an inordinate delay in granting patents in India, which ranges from five to 10 years and in most cases the idea becomes obsolete.

Although the government has started indulging in many schemes and provisions, patients are yet to reap benefits from them and hence many physicians themselves have indulged in creating innovative therapies or treatments that can be made available to patients at a very economical cost, experts said.

The doctors were attending a conference where they and experts revealed various innovations for the benefits of patients.

Members from the Intellectual Property Rights were also present to discuss with the doctors how to protect their intellectual properties.

"Patents for innovations by the doctors should be speeded up in India. These out of the box ideas by the physicians will ensure that the expenses of all the treatments do not put a load on the patient's pocket and some innovations help generate a positive relation between the patient and the hospital," said Ram Prabhoo, President of the Indian Orthopaedic Association.

During the conference, the participants spoke about various innovations aimed at easing the problems in the field of medicine. The major concern was to speed up the patents on all of their techniques.

Prashant Jha from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said that he has created a Feto Maternal device that can assess fetal distress, and can be helpful for patients as well as doctors.

"We have come up with a app named TNM that helps standardise the diagnosis for different types of cancer and its stages. This app has a 20-second Questionnaire which needs to be filled with just a yes or no and immediate diagnosis of the node of cancer and its stage is revealed," said Palak Popat, associated with city based Tata Memorial Hospital.

According to Popat, the app will become helpful for junior doctors, radiologists and general practitioners who are not specialists in Oncology.

"This app will help provide immediate information to the patients and their family," said Popat.