Shimla, May 20 (PTI) Patients and their family members on Wednesday said they faced inconvenience here as chemists shut their shops to participate in the one-day strike being observed nationally.
The call for the strike has been given by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists to oppose unregulated practice and deep discounting by online players.
With the majority of private shops shuttered down — a large number of them being in the vicinity of hospitals — patients said they struggled to find medicines and had to try multiple locations.
Medical stores near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kothipura, Bilaspur district, remained closed, causing hardships to patients, particularly to those who had travelled from remote areas for treatment. Some individuals had to return home without buying the prescribed drugs.
Relatives of the patients expressed distress because the medicines prescribed by doctors following examination and treatment at the hospital were unavailable in the surrounding areas.
Patients and their attendants struggled to find medicines at the Regional Hospital in Dhalpur, Kullu, as not all prescribed medicines were available at the government pharmacy inside the hospital premises.
“My grandmother is admitted at the hospital, and specific medicines prescribed by the doctor were not available at the hospital pharmacy. We went out to check various markets across Kullu, but the chemists were closed”, Ritu Devi, who arrived from Bali Chowki in Mandi district, told PTI Videos.
Rampal, another patient from the Lahaul Valley, said none of the medicines prescribed to him was available at the government pharmacy, and the chemists’ shops were closed.
He urged the government to ensure that all types of medicines are available at the government-run pharmacies operating within hospital premises.
Jatin, the proprietor of Sheetla Medical Store in Dhalpur, said pharmacies across the country remained closed on Wednesday to oppose the online sale of medicines, and pharmacies in the Kullu district also joined the strike.
President of the District Kullu Chemists’ Association, Rishabh Kalia, alleged that medicines are being delivered indiscriminately to homes via online platforms throughout the country, without any strict or appropriate government oversight.
“This has significantly heightened the risks associated with using fake and unverified prescriptions, misusing antibiotics, and the easy availability of narcotic drugs. Furthermore, there is a growing apprehension regarding an influx of counterfeit medicines into the market,” he said. PTI COR BPL SMV PRK
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