Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Almost all medicines are easily available at medical stores in the city without a doctor’s prescription. Except for some psychiatric medicines and high-end antibiotics, classified as Schedule H1 drugs, pharmacies are selling all other medicines without insisting on a prescription by a Registered Medical Practitioner.
Chemists, however, claim that they strictly do not sell any prescription-only drug without a doctor’s prescription. Pharmacies are allowed to sell certain products Over the Counter (OTC).
These include Ayurvedic and herbal preparations, dietary supplements and cosmetics. Also, rules require that the owner of a medicine shop should be a Pharmacy graduate and one pharmacist should always be present at the shop. All employees, however, need not be pharmacists.
“I don’t require a prescription to sell electoral powder, borolin, strepsils or a multivitamin,” said owner of Moolchand Pharmacy, Ansh Chawla. He said that the entire product range of Himalayas, Baidyanath and Dabur fall in OTC category.
According to Chawla, drugs listed in Schedules H1 and H of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 cannot be sold OTC - whether they are generic or ethical. They can be sold only when prescribed by a qualified and registered doctor.
“If a particular medicine in the prescription is not available with us, we call up the doctor and ask him or her whether we can substitute it with another drug. If the doctor consents, we write the name of the substitute and then provide the medicine to the buyer,” he said.
Ashish Yadav of Yadav Medicos said that 90% of their sales are based on prescription. Items sold without prescriptions include Vicks, Bournavita, Jhandu Balm etc, said Yadav, adding that they don’t sell paediatric medicines without prescription.
However, contrary to the claims of the chemists, this reporter could easily purchase a strip of Meftal tablets and a cough syrup from two different medicine shops.
Chemists can sell nutraceuticals, cosmetics and products like dettol Over the Counter (OTC). They can sell medicinal drugs only when prescribed by a doctor. Cough syrups are not OTC products. They cause nausea and lethargy and should not be sold or taken without a doctor’s prescription.
- Meet Dwivedi, doctor
Medicines should be sold only on doctor’s prescription. A pharmacist should be present at the shop all the time. He should supervise the sale of medicines as well as ensure that the medicines are stored at the right temperature and in the right place. There is no rule requiring every staffer to be a pharmacist.
-Jitendra Dhakad, President, Chemists Association, Bhopal
[Story by Staff Reporter]
