Jharkhand govt asked to recall decision to permit drugstores to operate without pharmacists

New Delhi: The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has urged the Jharkhand government to recall its decision of granting permission for opening pharmacies in rural areas without registered pharmacists.

In a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren and State Health Minister Banna Gupta, PCI president Dr Montu Kumar Patel said the notification of the district administration of East Singhbhum was a violation of the Pharmacy Act 1948 and and Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015.

"I request you to recall/withdraw the recent notification of your district administration of East Singhbhum district dated 13-06-2023 and implement Pharmacy Practice Regulations, 2015 in Jharkhand in public interest," he said.

The PCI president said in the past, there was no restriction on practising the profession of pharmacy by any person having no knowledge or education in pharmacy.  However, such unregulated practice caused great harm to the health of the people, he said.

Keeping this in mind, the Pharmacy Act, 1948 was enacted to regulate the profession and practice of pharmacy.

The PCI is a statutory body under the Ministry of Health, Government of India and reserves the right to protect the Pharmacy Act, 1948.

It is empowered to regulate the standards of pharmacy education across the country to meet contemporary health challenges; and to regulate the profession, its practice in most desirable way to improve the therapeutic outcome and quality of life along with maintaining the whereabouts of registered pharmacists who practice this profession under ethical bindings, Dr Patel stated.

Section 42 of the Pharmacy Act states that “no person other than a registered pharmacist shall compound, prepare, mix, or dispense any medicine on the prescription of the medical practitioner and whosoever contravenes it, is liable for a punishment for six months, or with fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or with both”, he noted.

The express proviso of the said section has already been upheld by the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court and in force throughout the country since 1984, Dr Patel underlined.

In a step further, the PCI notified the Pharmacy Practice Regulations, 2015 in the official Gazette of India after due consultation with state governments and with the approval of the Centre.

The regulations among other things clearly states that registered pharmacist shall dispense medicines prescribed by Registered Medical Practitioners and shall not substitute the prescription. The regulations also advocate the appointment of full time Registered Pharmacist by the owner of the pharmacy to avoid violation of the section 42 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948, Dr Patel stated.

Drugs must be dispensed at pharmacies by a Registered Pharmacist, he stressed.

"Drugs and medical devices are essential and special commodities. Their handling by an unqualified person will ignite the possibility of misuse, irrational use and wrong dispensing and will be detrimental to public health," Dr Patel said in the letter.