How Apollo Pharmacy ad exposes market's dirty secret

Imagine you are recruiting constables on behalf of police department and you have invited only crooks, fraudsters, fakes and criminals for the job. This may be unimaginable but if the profession happens to be pharmacy and your brief is to hire pharmacists to man drug stores, the above scenario holds true.

With over 2400 pharmacy outlets in the country, Apollo Pharmacy evoked surprise when its recruitment ad for pharmacists at Kompally in Hyderabad invited applications from SSC, Intermediate and degree holders besides B pharmacy graduates for working in their stores.

They even called for experienced people from these groups of job seekers, meaning that the market tends to legalise the profession of fake pharmacy. It is doubtful whether it will be any surprise if quacks (aka RMPs) with 20 years of experience will get more preference over medicos in Apollo hospital recruitment next?


What the law says

Section 42 in The Pharmacy Act, 1948
42. Dispensing by unregistered persons.—
(1) No person other than a registered pharmacist shall compound, prepare, mix, or dispense any medicine on the prescription of a medical practitioner 

(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or with both.

(3) Cognizance of an offence punishable under this section shall not be taken except upon complaint made by ⁷⁰ [order of the State Government or any officer authorised in this behalf by the State Government or by order of the Executive Committee of the State Council]:

However, it seems it is only the government authority or State Pharmacy Council can lodge a formal complaint and not a private individual. But will the Telangana state pharmacy council act? Not likely as nobody knows whether the council is functioning or not as its website says it is under construction.

No doubt, pharmacy profession has already gone to the dogs!

The outrage

Expectedly, the open promotion of quackery in pharmacy profession has invited the wrath of qualfied pharmacists from across the state on social media.

If u are promoting quacks ... Then scrap all courses why mbbs why Bpharm ?? When anyone prescribe or dispense ?? wrote pharmacist Dr B Chandrasekhar, state presidnent, PharmD Doctors' Association, Telangana, in a Facebook post that was addressed to senior health ministry officials of Telangana state.