Now Reading: Pregabalin sale banned without prescription from 12 November
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Pregabalin sale banned without prescription from 12 November
The Story in Brief
The Union health ministry has placed pregabalin under Schedule H1 of the Drugs Rules, banning its over-the-counter sale from 12 November. Chemists can dispense the drug only against a valid prescription and must maintain separate records of each sale. The notification, issued on 13 May, replaces its earlier Schedule H classification and follows nearly three years of lobbying by the Punjab government.
Punjab first formally sought tighter control in October 2023, flagging pregabalin’s addictive potential and misuse among young people. The move comes weeks after anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead in Mansa on 13 October, allegedly by a chemist he had confronted. The Punjab Chemist Association has halted pregabalin sales voluntarily, but alleges that raids on licensed chemists amount to harassment. The Centre is yet to decide on Punjab’s request to bring tapentadol under the NDPS Act.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Punjab government’s years-long push finally got pregabalin under Schedule H1, ending its over-the-counter availability from 12 November. The timing, a month after activist Parvinder Singh Jhota’s murder, puts the drug trade under scrutiny but also exposes the tension between enforcement and legitimate pharmacy businesses. The Punjab Chemist Association has halted sales voluntarily, claiming harassment of honest chemists, while the Centre still has pending decisions on other drugs Punjab wants regulated, including tapentadol under the NDPS Act. The next step is practical: from 12 November, every sale of pregabalin must be logged with prescriber and patient details, and regulators will track those records.
Source: indianexpress.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
