Legal action initiated against Coimbatore pharmacy

Metal piece found along with the tablet sold to a customer

September 21, 2019 03:52 am | Updated 03:52 am IST - CHENNAI

The State Health Department has initiated legal action against a pharmacy in Coimbatore on four counts including for selling a drug to a customer without a medical prescription.

The customer had approached the shop seeking medication for toothache and had been sold two drugs - Ofloxacin and Ornidazole tablet. On prising open the foil the man found a metal piece along with the tablet. Following this, he lodged a complaint with the Health Department.

On Thursday, the drug control officials had picked up samples belonging to the same batch of the medicines for analysis. The authority has initiated action against the shop on four counts, including selling the tablets without prescription across the counter. The pharmacy did not issue a cash memo for sale of the drugs to the customer. Nor has it maintained a prescription register. The sale to the customer had happened without the supervision of the pharmacist.

“Ofloxacin and Ornidazole are drugs normally prescribed by dentists for dental infection. We are going to prosecute the pharmacist,” the official said.

After the completion of the investigation, if the drugs are found falling short of specifications, action will be imitated against the drug manufacturer too. The drugs purchased by the customer were manufactured by a company in Uttarakhand, the official added.

The tablets are usually manufactured by mixing the active ingredients and binding agents and the wet granules are prepared. The wet powders are passed through a sieve and later dried in a certain temperature. Once dried, the tablets are subjected to a process called dry granulation, at which time lubricants are added.

The granules are again passed through sieve. The medicines are then ‘punched’.

The official said it is possible that the metal piece could be part of the foil that could have adhered to the tablet during packing process. The metal was found lying beside the tablet. “We are yet to identify whether it is a piece of the foil from the strip or a metal piece. It has been sent for investigation, which should be completed within 60 days as prescribed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,” he added.

The retail chemist would also be prosecuted for selling the drug OTC. The pharmacist is a licensed chemist, who had been in the business in the same locality for “quite some time”.

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