CHENNAI: Incidents of people popping paracetamol to temporarily reduce body temperatures to get through thermal scanning without much hassle during the pandemic crisis raised concerns among various quarters.
Despite the government advising pharmacies to sell paracetamol only after the buyer produces a prescription and the seller noting the name and address, none of the guidelines are being followed in Chennai.
"Paracetamol is not a prescription drug. But, we have asked pharmacy owners to note down the address and phone number of customers to create a database. We send these details to Directorate of Public Health. However, we did not know that pharmacies were selling the tablets without asking for any details," said K Sivabalan, director of TN Drugs Control Department.
When Express approached a medical store in Velachery and asked for 'fever medicine', the pharmacist went through the boxes, and brought back a strip of paracetamol in quick time. Incidentally, at the same time, another man bought a cough syrup.
This was not a one-off incident, but the reactions of different pharmacists, even from popular medicine retail chains in Guindy, Teynampet, Adambakkam, Madipakkam and Egmore, were the same. "We are already scared looking at the number of cases everyday. If one person takes the tablet and travels, it is enough to spread the virus to hundreds. There should be some restriction on sale of these drugs," said P Radhakrishnan, an activist from Teynampet.
When asked, pharmacists said that there was no official instruction from the government not to sell paracetamol over the counter. “Even the information on providing details of buyers is not sent to a lot of medical shops,” said a pharmacy owner in Guindy.
'Fever cure'
When Express approached a medical store in Velachery and asked for ‘fever medicine’ the pharmacist quickly went through the boxes, and brought out a strip of paracetamol in quick time.