Show cause notice issued to 111 medical shops in Hyderabad over illegal sale of habit-forming drugs

The Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) has issued show cause notices to 111 medical shops in Hyderabad after detecting violations related to the illegal and indiscriminate sale of habit-forming drugs.

The drugs wing of TG SAFE conducted a special enforcement drive on Tuesday, October 6 in Charminar, Mehdipatnam, Tolichowki, Malakpet and Goshamahal zones. The operation focused on detecting the illegal sale and diversion of habit-forming prescription medicines. 

Officials used decoy operations and test purchases to check whether medical shops were dispensing habit-forming medicines indiscriminately. The drugs specifically targeted included Tramadol, Tapentadol, Nitrazepam, Pregabalin-containing formulations, Zolpidem, Alprazolam and Codeine-containing cough syrups. The drive also covered drugs classified under Schedule H1 and Schedule X of the Drugs Rules.

The inspections found several violations at the 111 medical shops. These included the sale of prescription medicines without prescriptions from registered medical practitioners, dispensing prescription drugs in the absence of a registered pharmacist, and selling medicines without issuing bills.

Officials also found cases of medical shops failing to maintain or produce sales bills, prescription drug registers and Schedule H1 registers. Irregularities in maintaining copies of sales and purchase bills and failure to produce purchase bills were among the other violations detected.