http://www.pharmabiz.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?aid=82953&sid=3
Dispensing medicine in a pharmacy store is increasingly becoming a tough job for the pharmacists in India with uncontrolled growth of drug products in the market. Lack of effective control on irrational combination drugs and dosage manipulation in products to evade price control by pharmaceutical companies have made this responsibility of the pharmacists more complex at the counter. In an environment like this, absence of a qualified pharmacist in a retail medical store could be dangerous to millions of patients who are mostly not well informed. And in very few of the 7 lakh pharmacy outlets in India qualified pharmacists are present to dispense medicines to the patients. Regulatory authorities in all the states and Union territories are aware of this fact but rarely they conduct regular inspections of the premises of these outlets and take action. Maharashtra FDA, a few weeks ago, carried out a number of raids in Mumbai and other regions of the state and took action against the chemists for violation of the Section 42 of the Pharmacy Act,1948. Some of the chemists have even shut their shops and surrendered licenses while some others started keeping qualified pharmacists at their shops. But many others in semi urban and rural areas are still running their medical stores with unqualified persons having some experience in dealing medicines.
Inspections to curb violation of Section 42 are usually carried out by the drug inspectors as dispensing medicines in retail shops by the qualified persons is also a condition of the trade license issued by respective state drug control departments. As the number of inspectors in most of the state drug departments is far from adequate, regular checks are not taking place and the practice of illegal dispensing persists nationwide. In fact, enforcement of the Pharmacy Act is the prime responsibility of the respective state pharmacy councils. But barring Kerala and Maharashtra none of the other 27 states and Union Territories have pharmacy inspectors despite having pharmacy councils in all the states. Kerala has pharmacy inspectors for all the 14 districts whereas Maharashtra has just three pharmacy inspectors for the entire state. Why the Pharmacy Council of India and state pharmacy councils failed to convince state health ministries to appoint pharmacy inspectors in their states for so many years is question to be answered. As per the Pharmacy Act, State Pharmacy Councils are empowered under Section 26 A to appoint inspectors with the sanction of the respective state governments and pharmacy inspectors are expected to report the offences to the state pharmacy council. The new government at the Centre should earnestly take up this matter with all the state governments and get pharmacy inspectors appointed without any further delay for uniform implementation of the Pharmacy Act in the country.
Dispensing medicine in a pharmacy store is increasingly becoming a tough job for the pharmacists in India with uncontrolled growth of drug products in the market. Lack of effective control on irrational combination drugs and dosage manipulation in products to evade price control by pharmaceutical companies have made this responsibility of the pharmacists more complex at the counter. In an environment like this, absence of a qualified pharmacist in a retail medical store could be dangerous to millions of patients who are mostly not well informed. And in very few of the 7 lakh pharmacy outlets in India qualified pharmacists are present to dispense medicines to the patients. Regulatory authorities in all the states and Union territories are aware of this fact but rarely they conduct regular inspections of the premises of these outlets and take action. Maharashtra FDA, a few weeks ago, carried out a number of raids in Mumbai and other regions of the state and took action against the chemists for violation of the Section 42 of the Pharmacy Act,1948. Some of the chemists have even shut their shops and surrendered licenses while some others started keeping qualified pharmacists at their shops. But many others in semi urban and rural areas are still running their medical stores with unqualified persons having some experience in dealing medicines.
Inspections to curb violation of Section 42 are usually carried out by the drug inspectors as dispensing medicines in retail shops by the qualified persons is also a condition of the trade license issued by respective state drug control departments. As the number of inspectors in most of the state drug departments is far from adequate, regular checks are not taking place and the practice of illegal dispensing persists nationwide. In fact, enforcement of the Pharmacy Act is the prime responsibility of the respective state pharmacy councils. But barring Kerala and Maharashtra none of the other 27 states and Union Territories have pharmacy inspectors despite having pharmacy councils in all the states. Kerala has pharmacy inspectors for all the 14 districts whereas Maharashtra has just three pharmacy inspectors for the entire state. Why the Pharmacy Council of India and state pharmacy councils failed to convince state health ministries to appoint pharmacy inspectors in their states for so many years is question to be answered. As per the Pharmacy Act, State Pharmacy Councils are empowered under Section 26 A to appoint inspectors with the sanction of the respective state governments and pharmacy inspectors are expected to report the offences to the state pharmacy council. The new government at the Centre should earnestly take up this matter with all the state governments and get pharmacy inspectors appointed without any further delay for uniform implementation of the Pharmacy Act in the country.
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