Chemists prepare bills after downing shutters

Every medicine sold over the counter must be backed by a bill of sale with the name of the doctor prescribing it

Prescription medicines and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are in great demand these days. The chemist’s role in the dispensing of medicines is clearly defined and more particularly in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Each and every medicine prescribed or sold across the counter must be backed by a bill of sale with the name of the doctor prescribing it as well as the patient’s name, whether the consumer wishes to avail of it or not. OTC dispensing, particularly that are classified as `scheduled drugs’ are never to be dispensed without a medical practitioner’s prescription. These schedules usually consist of medicines, which if used without medical supervision, can cause disastrous consequences to the consumer.

In practice, the law is most often violated rather than observed. Chemists are known to give out the strongest possible antibiotics to patients at the drop of a hat. For coughs and colds, the medical practitioner is rarely ever consulted. Over-the-counter drugs are a boon for the chemist because the law then allows him to play doctor.

Antibiotics, if given may cause side-effects. Worse, the antibiotic sensitizes the germs in the human body to their presence and is rendered ineffective by such misuse. Medicines given for a common cold commonly cause drowsiness, which can be lethal to a man driving a car . Medicines containing codeine and other hallucinatory substances find their way into the hands of drug addicts, lending another dimension to the problem of chemists who play doctor.

The regulatory mechanism in the form of the Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) to keep tabs on the activities of chemists all over the country is in shambles. Lack of staff, inefficiency, overload of work and corruption have made such deep inroads into the system, that even in a state like Maharashtra, where the FDA is supposed to be one of the best, every unethical and illegal action possible takes place without any hindrance. Chemists rarely issue a bill for every sale. In fact, in an interview on Doordarshan recently, the Chemists’ Association representative in the discussion admitted that bills were prepared after office hours in proportion to sales made during the entire day.

The consumer should insist on a bill and refuse to take medicines from a chemist unless prescribed by the doctor.