West Bengal govt imposes conditions on sale of 4 drugs, cites scarcity in market

On Monday, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government imposed conditions on the sale of specific drugs citing their scarcity. These drugs are Azithromycin, Hydroxychloroquine, fixed-dose combination of Lopinavir and Ritonavir and Oseltamivir. The first condition is that any of the aforesaid drugs would not be sold without a prescription and the confirmation of the prescription shall be done with the medical practitioner. A maximum of 5 days of the regime can be administered can be dispensed at one time. Moreover, the retail outfit shall have to preserve the copy of the prescription. Another condition is that all state-level distributors have to submit the weekly distributor record to the Drugs Control Directorate.  

Read the West Bengal government's order here:

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Usage in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19

The West Bengal government's order assumes significance as one of the drugs- hydroxychloroquine was used in combination with swine flu medicines and HIV drugs to cure three COVID-19 patients in Rajasthan. Furthermore, the National Task Force constituted by the Indian Council of Medical Research has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of COVID-19 for high-risk population. This will only apply to asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed novel coronavirus cases and the asymptomatic household contacts of confirmed cases. The protocol states that its use will be restricted to emergency situations.  

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Additionally, the National Task Force has stressed that the use of this drug should not instill a false sense of security. Also, the high-risk contacts of a confirmed case undergoing this treatment should remain in home quarantine. This drug should only be given on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner. If a person gets any other symptoms apart from that of COVID-19, he should immediately seek the treatment of the same medical practitioner who prescribed the drug. 

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