The Jharkhand High Court has imposed a strict regulation prohibiting the sale of cough syrups and intoxicating psychiatric medications without a doctor’s prescription. This decisive action comes in response to public interest litigation that uncovered alarming cases of substance abuse among students.
Ranchi: Jharkhand high court on Wednesday directed the govt and the state drug controller to ensure that cough syrups and other psychiatric medicines which cause intoxication are not sold without medical prescriptions in the state. A division bench of Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Sunil Kumar Mahto on open sale of cough syrups in the city.
The syrups and other psychotic medicines are sold without medical prescriptions illegally, Mahto said in his petition.
Mahto went on to inform the court that cough syrup and other intoxicating medicines are illegally sold by medicine shops in the capital city. The cough syrups and medicines are consumed by school students and result in severe substance and medicine abuse taking a toll on their mental and physical health.
The bench taking a serious note of the matter ordered the state drug controller to ensure that no medical store should sell cough syrups and intoxicating medicines without proper medical prescription. The court also ordered the drug controller to conduct frequent raids and check the stocks of medicines of stores and pharmaceutical companies operating in the state.
The court directed the state govt to file a compliance report. The case will again be heard on Dec 12. The HC also ordered the drug controller to conduct frequent raids and check the stocks of medicines of stores and pharmaceutical companies operating in the state
