Angelina Jolie's Op-Ed piece in the New York Times (May 14, 2013) stating why she had a double mastectomy (or breast removal) has created a media sensation across the world.

The Parliamentary Committee report on health tabled in the Parliament last month shockingly exposes the reckless attitude and the complicity of the Health Ministry, Drug Controller General of India's office and the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation in helping Multinational pharmaceutical companies in conducting clinical trials on poor patients in India leading to 2644 deaths during clinical trials since 2005. Neha Dixit interviews Amulya Nidhi, co-convenor of Swasthya Adhikar Manch, the organisation that filed the much needed petition on Clinical trials in the Supreme Court of India which opened a pandora's box on the issue and helped hold the Union of India accountable.

The Supreme Court's judgement throwing out Novartis’ attempts to secure a patent for the leukaemia drug Glivec has created a frenzy in the pink press – both in  India and abroad.

Newsclick discusses with Dr. Amit Sengupta the impact of the recent Supreme Court judgement in the Novartis case on the Indian pharmaceutical sector, the Public Health Policy in the country and the R&D policies of foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Newsclick discusses with D Raghunandan the repurcussions of the proposed Nuclear Power Plant at Gorakhpur in Haryana. There are many problems with this proposed plant, specially relating to siting and sources of water. The only possible source of water for the NPP is the Bhakra canal. Apart from this, the site has a high density of population around. Raghunandan feels there is a political commitment to go ahead with nuclear technology, regardless of costs. He says all sources of energy should be evaluated dispassionately, clearly taking into account the costs, risks, potential benefits, and then the more suitable one should be opted. He thinks such an analysis would put nuclear energy at the bottom of this.

The news from Mississippi of an HIV-positive baby being 'cured' has once again started discussions around the plausibility of a breakthrough. Dr. Satyajit Rath discusses with Newsclick the reasons which are possibly behind what is termed as 'functionally cured.' He suggests that treating infection early on when the baby is exposed to it is almost like prevention. But since there is no accurate way of knowing when an adult is exposed to HIV, can the approach used in the baby's case be of any significance to the adult community infected with HIV?

Newsclick hosts selected news features of students from AJK MCRC, Jamia Milia Islamia University. Over 2000 people have died during clinical drug trials in the last four years in India but only 22 have been compensated. A report by Sana Amir, Salma Rehman and Zainab Sayeed.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick

In this Newsclick interview, Kalyani Menon, Co-ordinator of the Campaign for Affordable Trastuzumab (Herceptin) speaks to Ravish Mehra, husband of a breast cancer survivor who recounts his experiences in accessing Herceptin, and the travails faced therein.