Fake: Govt has not permitted pharmacists to open clinics and prescribe medicines

New Delhi, Jan 05: A Hindi newspaper clipping has gone viral in which it is claimed that the Centre has approved pharmacists in the country to open clinics and prescribe medicines.

Pharmacists like doctors will be allowed to open clinics the report also says. According to the report, there is already a provision for the same in the Pharmacy Act and Pharmacy Practice Rules of India.

This claim being made in the report is wrong and there is no such provision in the Pharmacy Act and Pharmacy Practice Rules of India. While there has been a long standing demand by some pharmacists to be recognised as medical practitioners, the government has granted no such permission.

OneIndia checked the rules under the Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015. It says that pharmacists can only dispense the medicines that are prescribed by the medical practitioners. While there has been a demand for some amendments to the regulations, the same is still under consideration. The amendment seeks to make the role of the cadre of clinical pharmacists, pharmacy services and those with a doctorate in pharmacy clearer.

However if the amendment is cleared, it still would not give the clinical pharmacist permission to open a clinic or even prescribe medicines. The fact that the viral report is fake was even confirmed by the Press Information Bureau, which said that there is no provision for a pharmacist to prescribe medicines or open clinics under the Pharmacy Act and Pharmacy Practice Rules of India.