BHUBANESWAR: Chemists selling ‘prescription only medicines’ without valid prescriptions beware! The State Government has decided to launch a crackdown on the chemists involved in illegal sale of drugs. Health and Family Welfare Secretary Dr Pramod Kumar Meherda has asked the Drugs Controller to form district-level squads for strict monitoring of sale of medicines and take appropriate punitive actions against violators.
The officials have been instructed to start a Statewide drive to sensitise people about the dangers associated with taking drugs without a valid prescription. Dr Meherda said the Drugs Controller has been directed to issue stern warnings to all pharmacies, medicine stores, chemists and druggists to strictly adhere to the relevant provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules.“The Drugs Controller has been issued a set of instructions to verify whether medicines are being dispensed by the chemists without proper prescriptions. Any one involved in such practice will not be spared. The sale of drugs will be strictly monitored and stringent action taken against violators,” he said.
The decision to curb wrong practices of selling prescription medicines without prescription was taken after Mumbai-based Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) drew the attention of the Odisha Government to easy availability of medicines without prescription in the State. The IPA had warned that availability of medicines without genuine and valid prescriptions can be detrimental to the health of the persons consuming such medicines.
Worldwide, adverse drug reactions, medication errors are a grave problem even in well regulated countries where the law enforcement is very strict. In fact, adverse drug reactions have been one of the major causes of deaths in the US.“The problem is likely to be manifold in the country if we do not check the illegal practice of sale of drugs. The medicines are available without prescription due to poor implementation of the laws. It also results in rampant misuse, abuse and improper use of medicines,” the IPA had pointed out.
The association had also urged the State Governments to take up the matter and draw short and long term strategies to curb the problem for a healthy society.