Doctor’s Prescription Mandatory For Medicines Containing More Than 12% Alcohol: Doctor’s prescription is mandatory for medicines containing more than 12% alcohol, decision of the Union Health Ministry.

New Delhi. Medicines that contain more than 12 percent alcohol will no longer be available without a doctor’s prescription. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued a notification in this regard by amending the Drugs Rules, 1945. This step has been taken with the aim of preventing misuse of alcohol-containing syrup as an intoxicant. Under the notification, all those oral medicines containing more than 12 percent alcohol which come in packs or bottles of more than 30 ml have been kept under the purview of Schedule H1, that is, a doctor’s prescription will be necessary for these medicines.

Let us tell you that the purpose of Schedule H1 is to strictly monitor those medicines which are more likely to be misused. The purpose of these changes is to replace the part of ‘Schedule K’ of ‘Drugs Rules’ which was misused in some parts of the country. Under this rule, some medicines made from things like cardamom, ginger and other spices were exempted from the prescribed alcohol limit. Due to this exemption, some products started being sold in the market which had ethyl alcohol content up to 80 percent, while they were being sold as medicines. Actually, the government wants to create a uniform regulatory system for all types of medicines containing ethyl alcohol.

The existing rules of ‘Drugs Rules’ already fix the alcohol content in many traditional medicine medicines. Under Rule 161, Ayurvedic and Unani syrups can contain a maximum of 16 percent alcohol. Similarly, under Rule 106B, the alcohol content in homeopathic medicines can be up to 12 percent. The amendment proposes that medicines containing more than 12% ethyl alcohol should not be exempted under ‘Schedule K’ merely because they contain ingredients like cardamom, ginger or other spices. Its objective is to prevent misuse of such products and also to ensure that genuine medicines continue to be regulated under the correct ‘Drugs Rules’.