Chennai: Neethi, who was on her way back from office, suddenly remembered that she needed to stop at a medical store to buy a few strips of Atorvastatin for her mother who was a cholesterol patient, and that she had forgotten to carry the doctor’s prescription.
However, she realised that it was not an issue, as most stores would not ask for a prescription. She stopped at a medical store at Besant Nagar and was able to make the purchase with no difficulty at all. Even though, the concept of online sale of drugs was reportedly dismissed by many due to the fact that it does not require a prescription, which could be risky, pharmacies have not refrained from their Over the Counter (OTC) sale of Schedule H and Schedule H1 drugs.
Atorvastatin, a medicine used to treat high Cholesterol, is one among the 536 medicines listed under the Schedule H drugs, which is a class of prescription drugs in India appearing as an appendix to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules. It was introduced in 2006. Some of the other medicines on the list include Aprotinin, Digoxine, Insulin Human etc.
The enforcement of this law is however, lax. Medical stores in different parts of Chennai seem to show no interest in demanding a prescription for many of the drugs that come under the list. “Insulin Human is a commonly used medicine. Many customers have diabetes and we cannot ask each and every customer for a prescription,” said Mohan, a pharmacist at Avadi.
“When there is a rule, it has to be followed. A lot of thinking and planning goes in before a law is passed and pharmacists should respect that fact,” said Dr Jaishree Gayaraj of a Women’s Health clinic. “We have inspectors for each area to check on the stores under our purview. We verify their records and if we see any discrepancy, we fine and confiscate the license of the owner,” said Abdul Khader, director of the drugs control department.
The Union health and family welfare ministry had introduced an amendment to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules stating that antibiotics and anti-tuberculosis drugs should not be sold over the counter without a prescription from March 1, 2014. These medicines were then listed under a different category called Schedule H1 drugs. As many as 46 drugs were placed under this restricted category. They include medicines such as Levoflaxin and Alprazolam. It is important that patients are educated on such matters including the importance of purchasing a medicine only with a prescription.
