Thousands of chemists on strike

Thousands of chemists on Monday morning went on strike to protest against the government order to make prescriptions compulsory for the sale of 74 listed antibiotics. The strike, called by the All India Chemists and Distributors Federation (AICDF), is against the government decision to replace Schedule H by Schedule Hx in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act-1940.

Under the amendment, doctors have to make double prescriptions for the sale of antibiotics, one for patients and other for chemists. Chemists have to keep a record of these prescriptions for the sale of these antibiotics for the next financial year.

Talking to reporters president of the chemists’ association, Kailash Gupta says, “As much as 60 per cent of our sales is based on antibiotics, and maintaining such detailed records for a year is practically impossible. Also, from the patient’s point of view, all the drugs in a prescription are mostly not found in the same chemist shop. This will inconvenience them.”