Drug inspectors raid chemist shops in city

Nine-member team finds several outlets selling abortion pills sans prescription

Drug inspectors raid chemist shops in city

Nine-member team finds several outlets selling abortion pills sans prescription

A day after MiD DAY revealed that several pharmacies in the city were rampantly selling contraceptive pills sans prescription, a team of drug inspectors conducted raids on chemist shops and caught many of them red-handed.

The drug inspectors started their drive from Forster Pharmacy at St Mark's Road. A plainclothes female inspector posing a customer went inside the shop and asked the chemist for contraceptive pills, but the chemist initially outsmarted the team by refusing to give the drugs to her.

Crackdown: Plainclothes drug inspectors raid a medical store on St Marks
Road in Banaglore, while fellow team members check sale and purchase
records of contraceptive pills at a chemist shop on Brigade road.
Pic/Ramesh HS

The chemist claimed that they did not deal in such drugs, but further investigations revealed that they stocked contraception pills and did not have required papers.

When asked for the sale and purchase bill of contraceptive pills, the chemist was not able to produce it, stating that these drugs were bought last year and the required data was not available. The chemist has been asked to produce the data within a week.

Next target of the team was Cash Pharmacy on Residency Road. A plainclothes inspector went inside the shop posing as a customer and came out victorious smile on his face. As was expected, he had managed to buy contraceptive pills sans prescription.

The chemist, Nagraj, also mentioned the name of a doctor on the bill.

If Balaji Pharmacy on Residency Road and Cure Pharmacy on Brigade Road in a way passed the test by refusing to give contraceptive pills without prescription, Sundeep Pharmacy on Brigade Road fell in the trap of drug inspectors by selling abortion pills without a prescription to a plainclothes official.

The team will soon prepare a report based in the investigations. The report will be submitted to the drug controller, BR Jagashetty who will take further actions. Jagashetty said, "I cannot say anything until the report comes."