The pharmacists should play a key role in spreading awareness about the drugs which have been banned by the drug authorities for safety reasons and they should advise the patients not to consume these drugs leftover at the pharmacies after the ban, opined Dr R S Thakur, president of the Federation of Indian Pharmacist Organisations, referring to the latest ban on pioglitazone, the anti-diabetic drug.

“The pharmacist who dispenses medicines in community pharmacies or in hospital pharmacies should keep track of the banned drugs and update his list for ready reference. He should also refrain from dispensing the prohibited drugs to the patients and advise them not to consume the banned products, whether it is drug or cosmetic, even if any old stock is left with them,” he said.

In a chat with Pharmabiz, Dr Thakur said before February 1, 1983 there was no provision for banning a drug in India. The Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act was amended in 1982 for inserting Section 26A empowering central government to prohibit manufacture, sale and distribution, etc. of any drug and cosmetic in public interest. This section, which came into effect from 01.02.1983, was not there in the original Act of 1940. This act was a landmark amendment in the D&C Act to ensure safety and efficacy of medicines being manufactured for sale or sold or distributed in India.

Recalling regulators’ interventions, Dr Thakur said by invoking Section 26A, the government banned 22 drug products in July 1983 and thereafter many other drugs were also banned including amidopyrin, phenacetin, penicillin skin/eye ointment, tetrracycline liquid oral preparations, nialamide, practolol and methapyrilene.

The last ban was on pioglitazone, the widely prescribed anti-diabetic drug on June 18, 2013.

Even when the government bans a drug, it is widely used by patients without knowing its side effects. It is the duty of the pharmacists to give awareness to the patients about the adverse drug reactions or side effects of the drugs. But no such awareness is given to the patient community by the dispensers. Dr Thakur said even the pharmacists themselves sometimes do not know the side effects or the reason for banning the drugs.

According to him, it is the duty of the regulatory body to educate the pharmacists about the reasons for the prohibition of drugs and the dispensers should be inspired to attend pharmacovigilance programmes. Besides drugs, cosmetics items are also banned occasionally. The common people should know all about the banned products, he said.