Chemists fear Rs 5k cr hit if antibiotics sale curbed

Chemists across the country are up in arms against the health ministry’s plans to restrict the sale of 90 commonly prescribed antibiotics as they argue it may lead to an estimated loss of business worth Rs 5,000 crore for the retail medical shops.

All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), the apex body of over 700,000 licensed medicine sellers, fears the move will make chemists responsible for ensuring the authenticity of a prescription. Any sales, carried against prescriptions from unregistered medical practitioners may invite fine and imprisonment to the chemist, says the draft rule being worked out by the ministry. The central government’s move is meant to put an end to the misuse of antibiotics.

AIOCD says that while the association supports the rational use of antibiotics, it is against the manner in which it is being planned. The ministry wants to restrict the sale of 16 medicines to tertiary care hospitals. These drugs will be supplied by the manufacturer directly to the hospital pharmacy. The next set of 74 medicines can be sold by chemists on the prescription of registered medical practitioners (RMPs). AIOCD president J S Shinde terms this clause as impractical as 10 states do not have an official list of RMPs. “How can the chemist verify the credentials of each and every prescription? It is impossible if the prescription is generated in one city and the patient needs a medicine in some other city. According to the proposed rule, if the doctor is found to be a non-RMP, the chemist can be punished for a fine up to Rs 20,000 or imprisonment up to two years,” he says.

AIOCD says the move will practically stall the sale of these medicines, which constitute 50 per cent of the volume sales of medicines in the country, in most places. “Sixty five per cent of rural and urban population will be deprived of antibiotics,” says Shinde.

While the organisation continues to lobby with the government to stop going ahead with the framing of this rule, it is also planning to observe a one-day country wide hartal in August to express its protest against the government move.

India’s domestic drug sales is worth Rs 60,000 crore annually. This includes over Rs 45,000 crore that takes place through retail outlets and the rest through institutional sales.