Medical shops in Hyd cock a snook at rules with impunity

Hyderabad: It is official now, after multiple raids! A number of medical shops are functioning in the city without an eligible pharmacist. For, there are businessmen who buy licences and run them in brazen violation of the Drugs(Control) Act,1950 and the rules framed under it. In some shops, the staff indulged in selling medicines without prescription, and even banned medicine.

The TG SAFE Commissioner Avinash Mohanty said that they have kept a close vigil on medical shops for violating rules and regulations. They suspended hundreds of licences of medical shops and they also asked some of the shops to improve safety methods in selling medicine.

“Special emphasis was laid on checking the indiscriminate sale of habit-forming drugs, primarily classified under Schedule H1 and Schedule X of the Drugs Rules, 1945 through decoy operations and test purchases from medical shops to verify the indiscriminate sale of such drugs by medical shops. Alprazolam, Buprenorphine, Chlordiazepoxide, Codeine, Diazepam, Nitrazepam, Pentazocine, Tramadol, Zolpidem, Tapentadol, Pregabalin, Amobarbital, Glutethimide, Pentobarbital, Ketamine hydrochloride, Amphetamine, Meprobamate, Phencyclidine, Barbital, Methamphetamine, Phenmetrazine, Cyclobarbital, Dexamphetamine, Methylphenidate, Secobarbital, Ethchlorvynol and Methylphenobarbital medicine is being sold off to customers by shop managements without any doctor’s description,” Avinash Mohanty said.

The TG SAFE Commissioner stated that the officers detected several violations related to the indiscriminate sale of habit-forming drugs, including the sale of such drugs without a prescription from a Registered Medical Practitioner; failure to maintain prescription drug registers and Schedule H1 drug registers; dispensing of prescription drugs in the absence of a Registered Pharmacist; sale of drugs without issuing bills; non-maintenance of, and failure to produce, sales bills; failure to produce purchase bills; irregularities in maintaining copies of sales and purchase bills; and other violations of the Drugs Rules.

The enforcement wing also conducted searches on medical shops operating online, including premises associated with online medicine delivery services such as Tata 1mg, Netmeds, Zepto, Apollo 24/7, MedPlus MART and Instamart, among others.

The inspections covered licenced premises of online pharmacy operators and their networked partner pharmacies.

The irregularities observed during the inspections include non-maintenance and failure to produce sales bills of medicines, failure to maintain prescription drug registers and Schedule H1 drug registers, failure to produce purchase invoices for medicines, dispensing of prescription medicines without valid prescriptions issued by a Registered Medical Practitioner, sale of medicines without the supervision of a registered pharmacist, and improper maintenance of copies of sales and purchase records. Show-cause notices were issued to medical shops across the CURE region associated with online pharmacies. Further action will be initiated as per the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Rules made thereunder.

TG SAFE reiterates that strict compliance with statutory requirements is mandatory for all medical shops, including those associated with online platforms.

Any deviation from the prescribed norms will attract stringent action under the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

Members of the public may report any complaints regarding the illegal sale, distribution, or diversion of habit-forming drugs, as well as any illegal practices relating to the online sale of medicines, through the TG SAFE – Drugs Wing Toll-Free Number 1800-599-6969, operational from 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM on all working days.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mouli Mareedu

Mouli Mareedu