Pune citizen helps FDA diagnose malpractices at pharmacies

PUNE: A citizen’s complaint has led to cancellation and suspension of licences of three medical stores in Kothrud for illegal sale of Schedule H drugs.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials used decoy customers and unearthed rampant sale of the drugs, mainly higher antibiotics, at the stores last week. The officials cancelled the licence of a store and suspended licences of two retailers for dispensing medicines without doctors’ prescriptions.

“The decoy customers approached a few medical stores in Kothrud.Three of them dispensed drugs that fall under Schedule H of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. We acted against them, as dispensation of these drugs without mandatory prescription of a registered medical practitioner is a serious offence,” FDA (drugs) Ashwin Thakare said.
A citizen had alerted the FDA about the illegal sale of drugs without the doctors’ prescriptions.
Anil Belkar, secretary of the Chemists Association of Pune district, said, “The chemists in Pune operate according to the regulations. At least 80% of them have computerized systems. This helps them keep records of the drugs dispensed, including those in the Schedule H1 category. The association has given registers to those who do not have the software.”
Physician Abhijit Joshi “Irrational and over-the-counter dispensation of higher antibiotics is fuelling the rise in a number of infections that are resistant to antibiotics. Due to routine use, modern medicine is reaching a point when it will not be able to function.”