Daily News
Government To Amend Drugs And Cosmetics (D&C) Rules To Give Trade Of Medicines A Better Professional Recognition
The Union Health Ministry in a recent update has come up with a plan to amend Rule 65(15)(b) and Rule 65(15) (c) of Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Rules where the word ‘Chemists & Druggists’ will be replaced with Pharmacy for uplifting the standard of pharmacy professionals in the country. This new amendment is in accordance with the international practice of calling all the medical shops selling medicines as “Pharmacy”.
Earlier the Karnataka State Registered Pharmacists Association urged the Union government to remove the words “Chemists and Druggists” from Rule 65(15)(b) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules and replace it with “Pharmacy” in order to give trade of medicines a better professional recognition.
The said amendment was discussed in the 55th Drug Consultative Committee (DCC) meeting held in February 20191. Later, the proposal was placed before the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), where DTAB deliberated the matter and agreed to amend Rule 65(15) of the D&C Rules, 1945 and recommended that all licensees in Form 20 and Form 21 should display the word “Pharmacy”.
The proposed amendment (Insertions are marked and deletions are struckthrough) in subrule 15(b) and 15(c) of Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Rules, 1945 prescribes that:
1. [The description ―Chemists and Druggists “Pharmacy” shall be displayed by such licensees who employ the services of a [Registered Pharmacist] but who do not maintain a ―Pharmacy for compounding against prescriptions.]
2. The recent amendment will upgrade the pharmacy professionals and will create a uniform standard of calling all the medical shops dispensing drugs as pharmacy. – Mondaq