With examinations round the corner and the pressure mounting, the teenagers have a single goal: High marks. That would entail remembering everything they study. And apparently, tonics and capsules claim to do just that without side effects. Allopaths, however, want to keep a safe distance from such pills.

Deccan Herald discovered that sales of such pills doubles during examinations. “Parents approach us in January asking for these medicines. If the child is younger, say five years then they purchase tonic as they feel that child may not swallow the capsules properly. Even in these, there are specific brands they prefer,” explained a pharmacist.

Parents of school-going children are the big buyers, but there are also a small percentage of college going students who buy such tonics and capsules.

The cost of these medicine ranges between Rs 50 and Rs 115. The products have no mention of the suitable age for consumption.

No prescription!

Most pharmacists apparently sell the pills without doctors’ prescriptions. One of them offered a justification: “There is no need for a prescription. People have been purchasing these tonics and medicines and so far, we have not received any complaints.” On the contrary, the doctors said that since there was no scientific evidence, they were not sure how effective the pills were. Doctors did not rule out the possibility of side effects.

M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital Consultant Neurosurgeon Dr Balaji S Pai said, “Most of these products are market driven. And, no doctor prescribes these medicine,” he said.
Pristine Hospital Consultant Neurosurgeon Dr G Lakshmi Narayanan said that for a normal person, there was no requirement of such capsules.