Prescription or not? At neighbourhood medical stores, consumers say rules are not always followed

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Imagine walking into a neighbourhood medical store with a prescription in hand. The pharmacist checks the medicine, packs it and hands it over. But what happens when there is no prescription? According to a nationwide survey, for a large number of consumers, the answer is that the medicine may still be sold. The finding comes as the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has proposed installing CCTV cameras at medical stores to make prescription-medicine sales traceable.

The survey, conducted by LocalCircles, saw about 1.06 lakh responses from consumers across 327 districts of India. Of the total respondents, 63% were men and 37% women. Besides, 52% of them were from tier-1 districts, 29% from tier-2 districts and 29% from tier-3, 4 and 5 districts.

The survey found that 64% of consumers said their chemist never or rarely asked for a doctor’s prescription before selling medicines in the past 12 months. Only 15% said their chemist mostly or always refused to sell medicines without a prescription. The survey also found that only 31% of consumers were able to get assistance from a qualified pharmacist most of the time or always, while 13% said they were assisted by someone who was not a qualified pharmacist.

The findings come as the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has floated a draft notification proposing mandatory CCTV surveillance at every medical store that dispenses drugs sold on a doctor’s prescription. Under the proposal, the supply, other than by wholesale, of any drug sold on the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner would have to take place under a CCTV surveillance system installed and maintained at the premises.

The proposal also comes against the backdrop of intensified enforcement in multiple States against chemists selling prescription medicines without valid prescriptions, operating without registered pharmacists and failing to provide proper bills.

The survey found that the neighbourhood chemist remains the primary source of medicines for most consumers. The question on how respondents had primarily purchased medicines in the previous 12 months received 16,822 responses. This revealed that 86% of the respondents primarily depended on local chemists, followed by 14% on ePharmacy apps.

The survey then looked at whether consumers were receiving assistance from qualified pharmacists when they needed help with medicine or disease-related queries. The question received 19,409 responses. 31% of the consumers said they were able to get assistance from a qualified pharmacist most of the time or always. 27% of them said they never or very rarely received such assistance.

The survey also examined prescription checks when medicines were delivered to consumers’ homes. The question received 15,473 responses. 41% of consumers surveyed said a prescription was never or rarely asked for during home delivery.

Consumers were also asked whether they received proper bills when buying medicines from local chemists. Of the 20,573 respondents, 26% said they were not provided a GST bill. “A bill is not merely a tax document. It carries the batch number, expiry date and identity of the seller and provides a record if a medicine turns out to be expired, defective or counterfeit,” it said.

The survey also sought to establish whether consumers had purchased medicines that later turned out to be counterfeit or ineffective. The question received 18,457 responses. 15% of consumers said they had bought medicines that were later found to be fake or counterfeit.

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