Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free stock selection service with expert predictions and real-time market insights, providing you with the best investment strategies for long-term success. Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed - Free Group Entry ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Professional stock market predictions and analysis with real-time data to guide your investment decisions and ensure steady growth.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free stock selection service with expert predictions and real-time market insights, providing you with the best investment strategies for long-term success. Editor’s note: This story is part of 'White lies', a series by 【 - Free Group Entry 】’s As Equals investigating skin whitening practices worldwide to expose the underlying drivers of colorism, the industry that profits from it and the cost to individuals and communities. For information about how 【 - Free Group Entry 】 As Equals is funded and more,check out our FAQs.

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Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Expert market analysis and predictions for India, US, and European stocks. Stay updated with real-time data on stock indices, futures, and commodities to help you make informed, timely investment decisions. The stranger in question was Janet James, who reached out to her one afternoon in June 2018. “I need your help,” James messaged Banik on the social networking platform Quora. She described how she had been using a cream containing the steroid Betamethasone for over two years to lighten her skin and was experiencing disturbing side-effects. “Whenever I stop using it, my face starts itching and small blisters arise,” she wrote.

James had stumbled upon Banik'sskincare blog, in which she documents her own painful experience with topical steroid creams and had sent her an urgent plea for guidance.

Banik, who is now a 33-year-old state government employee from the suburbs of Kolkata, replied instantly. She gave James the advice she wished someone had given her: “Stop right away.”

Betamethasone is a potent topical corticosteroid medication habitually used to treat a wide range of skin conditions, including psoriasis and eczema, but one of the potential side effects is lightening of the skin.

Creams containing Betamethasone should only be used on the advice of a doctor and are typically acquired with a prescription. But in India, as 【 - Free Group Entry 】 learned from doctors and users around the country, Betamethasone, and other corticosteroid creams, are regularly being misused as a skin lightening agent -- mostly by women.

In 2003, when Banik was just 14, a neighbor told her mother how much their child had “benefitted” from becoming “fair” by using a new cream. “Your daughter will also become fair,” they said.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free access to professional investment advisors who provide real-time market data and trend analysis. Select top-performing stocks and boost your capital with expert strategies for market growth. Wanting Banik to have the best prospects in a country where lighter skin isseen as desirableandassociated with success, Banik’s mother took her neighbor’s advice. “I was disappointed that it came in a tube so unappealingly medicated,” Banik recalls, “but it held the secrets toward my fairer future.”

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But one morning, the teenager forgot to apply the cream and within hours, a zit appeared on her chin. Though it quickly settled on applying the cream, Banik’s face started itching all the time. She soon developed acne and then, a year after the zit appeared, hair began to grow all over her face.

【 - Free Group Entry 】 spoke with multiple Indian dermatologists all of whom confirmed that Banik’s symptoms -- itching, acne, and hirsutism (hair on the face) -- are signs of Topical Steroid Damaged/Dependent Face (TSDF), caused by the excessive or prolonged use of steroid creams.

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It is the potential for hypopigmentation that is thought of as desirable by many women, and leads to misuse of the drug, in turn, fueling a dependency.

Once the skin is dependent on a steroid cream, explains Dr Rajetha Damisetty, it is difficult for a person to stop using it. Every attempt to stop will lead to an eruption of pimples, rashes, and redness. “That’s why people go back to using it,” says Damisetty, chairperson of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists’ (IADVL) task force against topical steroid abuse.

Even though numerous painful and visible side effects could develop from topical corticosteroid misuse, dermatologists told 【 - Free Group Entry 】 that the practice is rampant in India -- despite the introduction of restrictions in 2018 to limit access to these drugs.

In 2017, the IADVL filed a lawsuit called a Public Interest Litigation in the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on the sale of steroid skin creams without a valid prescription. The petition stated that the unregulated sale of corticosteroids had caused “serious adverse effects on the health of millions of Indians.”

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But despite this reclassification, 【 - Free Group Entry 】 has found that little has changed in the sale or use of these so-called “fairness creams.”

India is a vast country with a large rural population and health services managed at the state level. As such, painting a complete, up-to-date picture of the misuse of steroid creams is challenging.

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In recent months, 【 - Free Group Entry 】 has been able to buy four types of topical steroid creams over the counter in 16 pharmacies across the subcontinent: in the northern city of Delhi, Kolkata in the east, Ahmedabad to the west and Hyderabad in southern India.

Of six staffers in as many stores 【 - Free Group Entry 】 spoke to, just one acknowledged being aware of the need for a prescription to buy the creams and continued to sell the product without one. The remaining five people appeared unaware of the reclassification and sold the creams, even after being questioned. Staff at the 10 other stores visited avoided questioning but sold 【 - Free Group Entry 】 the creams, also without prescription.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free stock data analysis tools to help you select stocks accurately and capture global market trends. Stay ahead with expert market predictions for better investment returns. According to doctors and users of steroid creams, the products are also readily available at grocery stores.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Real-time stock and futures data, backed by expert stock market trend predictions, to help you make timely and profitable investment decisions. When asked what he thought about the continued over-the-counter availability of topical steroids, Dr Abir Saraswat, a dermatologist with 20 years of experience, says he believes India’s powerful pharmaceutical lobby is to blame, citing threats to strike and shut up shop. “Surely, no government wants to countenance that,” he says, adding that unless there is deep reform and regulation, there is no way to stop people from flouting the rules.

Dr Shyam Verma, a dermatologist who has published extensively on topical steroid misuse, agreed but told 【 - Free Group Entry 】 that the problem goes beyond the pharmaceutical lobby. “There also seems to be a lack of will, and manpower, to implement the law by the governments’ drugs control departments, both at the central and the state level.”

【 - Free Group Entry 】 contacted the Indian Pharmacist Association, a trade group that represents pharmacy stores, which identified a different reason for the unregulated sale of steroid creams. “Technically, every pharmacy in the country should have a registered pharmacist sitting at the counter as long as the shop is open,” Abhay Kumar, the Association’s president says. But “there is no national count on who are at the counters.”

Kumar insists that his organization has been pressuring the Pharmacy Council of India, a central government body that regulates the licensing of pharmacists and pharmacy education, to make a list of registered pharmacists around the country to weed out the fraudulent ones. “So far, our demands fizzle into thin air,” he says.

Verma agrees that there is some truth that registered pharmacists are often not at the counters, but he explains that pharmacies with registered pharmacists are also known to sell these creams without a prescription.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ AI-driven stock trend forecasting with free access to real-time market data, offering personalized investment advice and expert predictions. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare asked 【 - Free Group Entry 】 to take the matter up directly with the current Drugs Controller General of India, Dr VG Somani. Somani’s office, in turn, declined to comment without official approval from the health ministry. The Ministry has not responded to 【 - Free Group Entry 】’s request for approval.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Real-time stock market data, precise predictions, and investment strategies to help you optimize your portfolio and achieve financial success. At the state level, the Deputy Drugs Controller for Delhi, Atul Nasa, did speak to 【 - Free Group Entry 】, but says unregistered pharmacies and the over-the-counter sale of steroid creams are not problems in his state. “In Delhi, we only give licenses to pharmacies with a registered pharmacist. Now, if at a certain point they are not at the counter, we should be informed.”

He adds: “We have got no tip that Schedule H creams are being sold over the counter in our territory. If we do find evidence, we will surely take action.”

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free expert predictions on stock trends and real-time data to help you make informed decisions and grow your wealth steadily. When informed that 【 - Free Group Entry 】 was able to purchase creams at multiple sites without a prescription, Nasa simply reiterated: “Our team has no such information that these creams are being sold over the counter.”

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Accurate real-time market data and expert stock predictions for profitable investment opportunities in global markets. While the ability to buy creams without prescription is causing many people in India to develop a dangerous dependence on topical corticosteroids and suffer from its multiple adverse effects, another factor is further adding to the problem.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Expert stock predictions and free stock selection services to help you achieve optimal returns and long-term growth. According to Damisetty, corticosteroids are also present in many cosmetic creams, marketed explicitly as skin-whitening products and, alarmingly, steroids are often not listed as an ingredient. She tested one of the most popular products available and found it contained 0.056% Betamethasone. “That amount can surely cause drug dependence if used for a prolonged period,” says Damisetty.

“The findings were published in local media,” she says, adding that the company manufacturing the cream then sent her a legal notice disputing the findings. There was no further development, however, following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Damisetty explains.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Receive professional stock analysis with real-time updates on market movements. Make quick investment decisions and capitalize on profitable opportunities. Now, Damisetty and the other dermatologists 【 - Free Group Entry 】 spoke to want to raise the alarm before the problem gets any worse.

“Fairness mania-induced use of topical steroids” is a silent epidemic of “astronomical magnitude,” says Dr Koushik Lahiri. He highlights a 2020 article in theBMJ Open, which listed “public and professional ignorance, legal ambiguity and government inaction” as contributing factors to the epidemic.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free access to stock market forums, expert advice, and real-time data to help you stay informed and grow your investments. At the root of the wide-spread misuse of topical corticosteroids in India is the deep-seated belief that lighter skin tones are better than darker ones. And nowhere is this more visible than in India’s marriage culture.

In 2014, in Gurugram, a city southwest of Delhi, a woman killed herself. Her sister told reporters that the woman had been “fed up [with] the taunting [she received from her husband] regarding her skin colour.”

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Get precise stock market predictions and free access to real-time market data for efficient decision-making and portfolio growth. A year later, a schoolteacher from Kolkata set herself on fire. Before she died in hospital, she is reported as having said that putting up with constant humiliation for her complexion, and being told no-one would marry her, was the reason she did it.

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【 - Free Group Entry 】 analyzed ads posted in the Sunday editions of three of India’s biggest English-language newspapers -- Times of India, The Telegraph and Hindustan Times -- throughout the month of August, counting how many times the word “fair” was used, as well as similar terms such as “wheatish” or “medium complexion”. Of 1332 ads, 301 (22%) explicitly used these words, either as a selling point or as an attribute sought in a prospective match.

Dhruba Mukherjee, CEO of ABP Pvt Ltd, the media group that owns The Telegraph, told 【 - Free Group Entry 】 that while “the publishing house does not endorse the use of these terms, unless a word breaches the law, we cannot ask people to stop using any specific term”. He added that the ads “reflect the socio-cultural mindset of people”.

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Explaining the phenomenon, feminist activist and researcherReena Kukrejasays: “In large part, [the desirability of fair skin is] due to the association of dark skin with manual labour undertaken outdoors — dark skin was emblematic of low caste status”.

In an articlepublished at the start of 2021, Kukreja outlined how “fairness as ‘capital’ conjoins with both regressive patriarchal gender norms governing marriage and female sexuality and the monetization of social relations, through dowry, to foreclose local marriage options for darker-hued women.” In other words, the darker-skinned and poorer you are in India, the harder it is for you to find a husband, and society reserves many privileges for married women.

“One thing I keep hearing is parents asking me to ‘fix their daughters’ skin problems fast,’” says dermatologist Dr Pallavi Kashyap. “Parents fear their daughter won’t find a prospective suitor unless they are fair.”

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Professional investment advice with real-time updates on stock indices and futures data. Stay ahead with expert predictions and market insights. Relating this to her own experience and her mother’s decision to take their neighbor’s advice 20 years ago, Banik says: “Our country has this unfair beauty standard and I believe my mother wanted me to become fair so that people think that I am worthy of attention.”

It took Banik six years for her face to be weaned off topical corticosteroids, but she had been determined to stop. “One day, I woke up and decided not to use the cream anymore -- I was ready for all consequences,” she says.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free break-even services and stock analysis to help you recover quickly from losses and increase your chances of making profitable investments. Those consequences included being mocked about her appearance. “My self-confidence dropped. I remember overhearing a classmate discussing how I looked worse than a pig and that stayed in my head for far too long. It took me years to rebuild my confidence.”

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Real-time global stock market trend analysis to help you identify profitable opportunities and improve your investment strategies. The burning sensation, acne and other symptoms eventually stopped, but the hair on her face is something Banik has to live with.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Expert predictions on stock market movements with real-time data, ensuring you can make quick decisions and capture market opportunities. As for James, with Banik’s help she learned how to relieve the itching that began when she stopped using betamethasone. A month after the two women first spoke, she wrote to Banik, explaining that she was worried about her skin condition because her parents were searching for a marriage alliance. “You saved my skin,” she wrote.

Has the fundamentals of Bafna Pharmaceuticals Limited (532989) changed ✌️【Financial Expert】✌️ Free access to real-time stock indices, futures data, and market predictions to help you select high-return stocks and build a profitable portfolio. According to Banik, James is just one of the 650,000 people who have visited her blog to date, looking for information or advice. It is a small dent in the many women across India who may be suffering the pain of a drug-dependent face and the probable millions more who are making the decision to use steroids to lighten their skin for the first time. But if the authorities will not protect Indian women, Banik wants to increase their awareness so women can protect themselves.

Her experience is a cautionary tale. “I am a living example of what topical steroids can do to your face,” Banik says. “Are you listening?”