No prescription, No cough syrup; Central government imposes new restrictions

NEW DELHI: The central government issued a new order permitting the sale of cough syrups only to consumers with a doctor's prescription. This restriction was implemented after the tragic deaths of children in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan after drinking adulterated cough syrup. With this introduction, people will not be able to buy cough syrups from pharmacies without a doctor's prescription. The notification in this regard was issued by Harsh Mangla, Joint Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare.

The new amendment will remove the word syrups from the Schedule K exemption list. This will control their availability. Syrups were previously included under Schedule K Serial No. 13, Item No. (7). Drugs that are exempted from the stringent provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, subject to certain conditions, are usually included in Schedule K. With the new amendment, syrups have completely lost this benefit.

The draft notification in this regard was first issued by the ministry in December last year. The notification of June 9 has now been officially gazetted by the central government after no objections were raised against this order from the concerned parties or the public within the stipulated time limit.