'Take back permission to deliver doorstep medicines': Chemists' body urges government

'Illegal platforms are selling medicines without a valid prescription, which is increasing serious problems like self-medication, drug abuse, and antimicrobial resistance', SKDCDA President Arun Kumar Shetty said.

Mangaluru: The South Kanara District Chemists and Druggists Association (SKDCDA) said that the special permission granted during the Covid-19 pandemic to deliver medicines to doorsteps is being misused by illegal online platforms, posing a threat to public health. The All-India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) and the SKDCDA urge the central government to immediately withdraw the provision.

SKDCDA President Arun Kumar Shetty and Secretary Dr AK Jamal said that the AIOCD and the SKDCDA, represent all chemists and distributors of the state and across India has already written to the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare three times appealing to revoke the notification GSR 220 (E) issued during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The notification was published in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, when movement restrictions were imposed, and the supply of medicines to doorsteps was allowed with some conditions under Section 26B of the Drugs Act to regulate the manufacture, sale, and distribution of medicines. Under this, doorstep delivery of medicines was allowed, and some rules, such as the requirement to stamp the prescription for the sale of medicines, were temporarily set aside only as a special circumstance, Shetty said.

"Illegal platforms are selling medicines without a valid prescription, which is increasing serious problems like self-medication, drug abuse, and antimicrobial resistance. All such illegal platforms are focusing only on their profits by ignoring the safety of patients. The original intention of the notification was to facilitate the delivery of medicines in specific circumstances for valid licensed nearby chemists," he added.

Hence, the AIOCD demands that with the emergency phase of the pandemic no longer existing and normalcy returned, the notification is no longer relevant and should be withdrawn immediately. If the government does not act positively, AIOCD and SKDCDA will be forced to launch agitation, stated Shetty and Dr Jamal.