About 55,000 chemists across Maharashtra have threatened to return their licenses to the Government this Saturday, in an escalation of the confrontation between them and the State regulatory authority.

“Does a chemist look at the need of the patient or the law,” asks Anil Navandar, Secretary of the Maharashtra State Chemists and Druggists Association, referring to the key point of conflict between the chemists and the State Food and Drug Administration.

Chemists are being charged by the authorities for dispensing medicines on prescriptions given by qualified homeopaths or ayurvedic practitioners, in regions where there are no registered doctors. Pointing out that chemists acted in the interest of patients, he said, chemists were getting caught because of the lack of clear guidelines.

The issue has been festering for several months now.

Last October, the State Food and Drugs minister Satej Patil and FDA Commissioner Mahesh Zagade had admitted the 10 demands raised by the Association a meeting at Kolhapur. “But all these demands have remained on paper only and the FDA had intensified the actions against the chemists. Now, FIRs have been filed against the drugs manufacturers and traders,” they alleged.

jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in

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