NO PRESCRIPTION, NO PROBLEM: CHEMISTS SELLING MOST DRUGS OVER THE COUNTER

Almost all medicines are easily available at medical stores in the city without a doctor’s prescription.

- Our Staff Reporter

Except for some psychiatric medicines and high-end antibiotics, classified as Schedule H1 drugs, pharmacies are selling all other medicines without insisting on a prescription by a Registered Medical Practitioner.

Chemists, however, claim that they strictly do not sell any prescription-only drug without a doctor’s prescription. Pharmacies are allowed to sell certain products Over the Counter (OTC). These include Ayurvedic and herbal preparations, dietary supplements and cosmetics.

Also, rules require that the owner of a medicine shop should be a Pharmacy graduate and one pharmacist should always be present at the shop. All employees, however, need not be pharmacists.