Clinics and hospitals under the banner of Qualified Private Medical Practitioners Association would be forced to close down from Sunday if they do not get medicines from the wholesalers, a senior functionary said.
Drugs license was not required for private hospitals and doctors for giving
medicines to their own patients as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945. But the Drugs Controller of Kerala was forcing the clinics and hospitals to take drugs licence, QPMPA president Dr M H Koya told reporters in Kottayam on Saturday.
Koya alleged that Drugs Controller had orally ordered drug stores not to supply drugs to hospitals without licence..."The reason being that there is no legal backing," he said.
QPMPA, set up in 1973, having 2500 members and 4500 private hospitals in Kerala, is an association of doctors and hospitals in private sector.