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Delhi: Licences of 25 chemist shops suspended for selling Covid drugs without prescription
Delhi government’s drugs control department has suspended the licences of 25 drug stores and initiated action against 12 others for selling medicine used in the treatment of Covid-19 without prescriptions
Delhi government’s drugs control department has suspended the licences of 25 drug stores and initiated action against 12 others for selling medicine used in the treatment of Covid-19 without prescriptions. Department officials said they sent decoy customers to various stores across the city during drives conducted this month to purchase Ivermectin, antibiotics like azithromycin, and steroids to check if the medicines were being sold without a doctor’s prescription.
The action comes when cases of secondary mucormycosis or black fungus are on the rise, which doctors are attributing to compromised immunity due to indiscriminate use of steroids in patients who have recovered from Covid , besides other factors such as diabetes.
“After streamlining the availability of medicines such as remdesivir and tocilizumab during the peak of Covid wave, we focussed on the ones that are usually readily available such as ivermectin, antibiotics and steroids. These drugs, however, should not be given without a doctor’s prescription. In view of the pandemic, we took quick action and suspended the licences of 25 chemist shops within three days, after giving them a day to respond to the show cause notices,” said A K Nasa, head of Delhi’s drug control office.
The licences of the 25 drug stores were suspended after they sold ivermectin and antibiotics to the decoy customers without prescription on May 14 and 15. The drugs come under schedule H and H1 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, that requires that the retailers sell it only on prescription from registered medical practitioners and maintain records of their sale.
Showcause notices have been sent to 12 other drug stores which were found selling steroids such as dexamethasone and budesonide without prescriptions on May 17 and 21. Their licences are also likely to be suspended.
Last Saturday, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) ordered all pharmacies across the city to display the stock position and MRP of eight medicines such as Ivermectin, Doxycycline, Dexamethosone that are used for the treatment of Covid-19. “Now we will conduct regular drives to see whether this is being followed,” said Nasa.
Last year, when there was a shortage of remdesivir as cases of Covid-19 started increasing, the drugs control department stationed its inspectors with the seven stockists in the city to ensure people in need get it after submitting documents like Aadhaar, doctor’s prescription, and a positive Covid-19 report. This, however, could not be done during the current wave because of the large number of cases and huge demand for the medicine.
“We decided to create a portal to make the process transparent. The suppliers were told to upload details of available stock of remdesivir as per Centre’s allocation on the portal and details of which stockist was given how many vials of the injection. Then, the stockists had to upload how many vials they received and which hospitals they sold to. The hospitals were also asked to enter details of patients who were given the medicine. This way, no one could hoard the medicines or sell it directly to people. Now, there is good availability of the medicine in Delhi,” said Nasa.
To be sure, the number of new Covid-19 cases has also reduced from over 28,000 at the peak of the fourth wave of Covid 19 on April 20 to around 1,500 cases currently.
For tocilizumab, the government has set up a technical expert committee that goes through every request raised by hospitals to ensure that the drug is not overused or misused. The drugs control department then ensures the availability of the medicine to the respective hospitals through its list of stockists.
