Chemists shut shop in Bihar as part of nation-wide stir

Chemists downed their shutters in Bihar today in support of the nation-wide stir called by All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists, causing distress to patients, official sources said.
Claiming that the strike was totally "successful" in the state, Bihar Chemists and Druggists Association (BCDA) president Parsan Kumar Singh said that about 40,000 chemists and druggists shut shop in the state.
The wholesale market on Govind Mitra road here remained deserted with medicine shops remaining closed for the day, the sources said.
The chemists' shops in other parts of the city and the districts also remained shut, they added.
The striking chemists took out a protest march in the city under the BCDA banner to press for five-point demands comprising amendments in various laws like the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2008, to enable the chemists to sell medicines at reasonable prices by taking into account inflation and price rise.

The protesting chemists also demanded restraining pharmaceutical companies from patenting life saving drugs so that such drugs could be sold at a cheaper price.
The chemists may call for an indefinite stir if the government fails to consider their demands sympathetically, he said.