Patients cannot be compelled to purchase medicines from hospital-attached drug stores, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said. A notification issued by FDA Commissioner Abhimanyu Kale said FDA had received repeated complaints that patients have been forced to buy medicines from the drugstore in hospitals.

It is illegal for a hospital to force patients to buy medicines from their affiliated stores, reports cited the notification, addressed to all divisional joint commissioners, assistant commissioners, and drug inspectors.