A senior official associated with the FDA said that people often complain that medical stores force them to buy a full strip of tablets when they need a few of them
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has written to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to stop the arbitrariness of medical stores regarding sale of drugs and asked for a guideline for the same. A senior official associated with the FDA said that people often complain that medical stores force them to buy a full strip of tablets when they need a few of them. However, the chemists' association claims it is for the benefit of patients.
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Patients are often prescribed small doses of medicines by doctors. But medical stores refuse to provide limited number or small quantity of medicines and force customers to buy whole strips of tablets for instance, that are not only costly, but also lead to wastage.
Arjun Khadtar, joint director of the FDA Drug Department said, "Just for two tablets, patients cannot be forced to buy a whole strip. So we have written to the higher authority to issue customer-friendly guidelines."
However, the Chemist Association secretary has warned that many patients often don't take the prescribed number of medicines. They often buy a small quantity. This can lead to resistance of the drug in future.
Secretary of Chemist Association Secretary Nitin Maniar also pointed out that if they give 2-3 tablets from a strip then they won't be able to keep track of the expiry dates. "Often customers ask us to show the expiry date. If it goes along with a few tablets, how can we show it?" he asked.
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