Mumbai : Three chemist store operating inside Terminal 2 of Mumbai airport were served showcause notices for rampant sale of sedatives and drugs meant to treat erectile dysfunction or impotency without prescriptions. The state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found out during multiple inspections that the chemist shops also did not have proper purchase and sale receipts. The intelligence branch of the FDA acted on a tip-off received nearly two months ago. The drugs such as Viagra, Tadacip-20, used to treat impotency or erectile dysfunction were sold without any prescriptions. Sedatives such as alprazolam, diazepam, commonly used to treat anxiety disorders were also available freely. Schedule ‘H’ medicines cannot be sold without a prescription as one can overdose and cause self-harm. The main scare is this people can buy these drugs in bulk and smuggle them out of the country. Also, without sale receipts, it would be difficult to track the source of a spurious drug .Mostly Indians who were buying these drugs and not foreigners. Many sedatives that are easily available in Indian are banned in other countries.
Sumit Dhariwal
M.pharm
Pharm.sumitdhariwal@gmail.com
