The All Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association's (AKCDA) attempts to make the government stop Pharmacy Council’s inspections at the medical stores and the demand to withdraw Pharmacy Practice Regulations from implementation are unlikely to succeed as with the Pharmacy Practice Regulations (PPR) 2015 in force from January this year in the country, the drug traders engaged in retail and wholesale of medicines have to do their business under the strict supervision of registered pharmacists.

Similarly, the Retail Chemists Forum's (RCF) plan to form an organisation of the working salesmen in the community pharmacies and wholesale depots will also fail because the law of the land does not allow unqualified persons to handle any kind of delivery of drugs.

In place of non-pharmacist salesmen, the owners of pharmacies must appoint qualified and registered pharmacists to carry out all the activities related to medicine sale.

This shows one fact that the job of unqualified persons as salesmen will be vanished from the medicine business sector as the presence and monitoring of a registered pharmacist is a necessary factor in places where medicines are supplied or dispensed. This factor is applicable in the premises of wholesalers also.

As regards retail pharmacies, the Regulations indisputably elucidate that ‘no person other than a registered pharmacist shall compound, prepare, mix, dispense or supply of any medicine on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner’. The various activities of dispensing (prescription assembly) like removal of drugs from the packing, filling the prescription etc. should be performed under the supervision of a registered pharmacist. However, the actual dispensing of drugs to patients shall only be performed by the registered pharmacist after due verification of the prescription filled by others.

Further, the Regulations categorically state that the registered pharmacist should dispense only those medicines as prescribed by a registered medical practitioner.

Another major threat for the traders and salesmen community is that the Kerala Private Pharmacists Association (KPPA), an association of qualified and registered pharmacists, is chalking out programmes to prevent the traders from going ahead with protests and agitations against Pharmacy Council inspections and implementation of Pharmacy Act. KPPA demands that the retailers and wholesalers must employ registered pharmacists to monitor drug supply in the premises where medicines are stocked or sold. According to them, medicine business is a sole profession of qualified pharmacists.

While talking to Pharmabiz, the state drugs controller B.Hariprasad and president of the State Pharmacy Council, B. Rajan said the argument of AKCDA that they are only selling tested and company packed drug materials cannot be justified. Likewise, the traders’ demand for separation of pharmacy and medical store is also unjustifiable. Responding to RCF’s claim that so far no death or adversity has been reported from anywhere in the state from dispensing of medicines by salesmen, the regulators said such claims cannot be entertained when laws are in force.

The PPR affirms that a pharmacy inspector can inspect any premises where drugs are compounded or dispensed, and he should submit a written report to the council registrar. He should enquire whether the person engaged in compounding or dispensing of drugs is a registered pharmacist. He can investigate any complaint made in writing in respect of any contravention of the Act and report to the registrar.

Similarly, the pharmacy inspector has the right to institute prosecution under the order of the executive committee of the State Pharmacy Council, according to the PPR 2015.