The Drugs Control Administration (DCA) in Telangana has recently exposed extensive and concerning violations within 115 pharmacies connected to corporate hospitals across the state. These alarming findings emerged from a targeted special inspection drive conducted last Saturday.
During these thorough inspections of hospital-attached pharmacies, numerous critical irregularities came to light. These included the unauthorized dispensing of prescription medications without a qualified, registered pharmacist present, a complete lack of proper sales bill maintenance, and the failure to keep essential prescription and Schedule H1 drug registers. Furthermore, a significant number of pharmacies were unable to provide adequate purchase bills for the medicines they held in stock, according to the official statement from the DCA.
The investigative teams also discovered troubling instances of drugs being sold without valid prescriptions from licensed medical practitioners. Other issues included poorly managed copies of sales and purchase records, incorrect storage of temperature-sensitive (thermolabile) drugs, the presence of physician’s samples being sold, and shockingly, expired medicines being kept right alongside stock intended for sale.
In response to these serious findings, the DCA has promptly issued show-cause notices to all 115 implicated pharmacies. The administration has affirmed that further stringent action will be pursued against these establishments in accordance with the regulations outlined in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.