Certain contraceptive pills will continue to be available without prescription: CDSCO sources
New Delhi, Oct 13: There is no change in the rules governing the sale and distribution of emergency contraceptive pill brands like i-Pill or Unwanted 72 and they will continue to be available without a prescription, official sources from national drug controlling authority CDSCO said on Friday.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO) sources said that certain media reports have misinterpreted proposal for change in rules regarding prescription requirement for hormonal contraceptives governed by Schedule H and K of Drug Rules.
There is no change in the status quo regarding the over-the-counter sales and distribution of Emergency Contraceptive Pill (ECP) brands like i-Pill or Unwanted 72, an official source said.
Presently, the contraceptive drugs i.e. Centchroman and Ethinyloestradiol are under Schedule H of Drugs Rules, meaning that they can be sold on the doctor's prescription only.
Also, for manufacturers, they will be required to mention caution on the label as "to be sold by retail on the prescription of Registered Medical Practitioner only".
However, certain strengths of these drugs are also covered in Schedule 'K' of Drugs Rules, meaning that these specific strengths do not need any prescription from a doctor for purchase.
"The strengths as defined in Schedule K, will be available without prescription, as it is available today. And all other remaining strengths will need a prescription, as it is required today," the official source said.
"The proposed amendment in the Drug Rules, whereby a clarifying statement 'Class of drugs mentioned at entry no. 15 of Schedule K shall not be covered by this Schedule" will be added in Schedule H of the Rule.
"This will remove the ambiguity and simplify the process for sale of such drugs (of selected strengths)," the source said.
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PM Modi, RSS strengthening wall in path of SCs, STs, OBCs: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS were strengthening the wall standing in the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs, even as he acknowledged that the UPA took steps to weaken that wall but not to the extent it should have.
Addressing the 'Samvidhan Rakshak Abhiyaan', Gandhi also referred to the function held on Constitution Day in Parliament and said that it is his guarantee, that "Modi has not read" the Constitution.
"If PM Modi would have read this book then what he does daily, he would not do it," Gandhi said, displaying a copy of the Constitution of India.
Gandhi said the country's whole system is pitted against Dalits, Adivasis and backward class people.
He said a wall obstructs the path of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs and Modi and the RSS are strengthening that wall by "adding cement to it".
"Slowly the wall (obstructing the path of SCs, STs, OBCs) is getting strengthened. Earlier, the UPA government gave MGNREGA, the land acquisition act, the right to food...those were ways to weaken that wall. Today, when I look back, I can say the UPA government did not weaken the wall to the extent it should have, it did not do it as strongly as it should have," Gandhi said.
"However, we used to make efforts to weaken that wall but they (the BJP) are strengthening that wall by adding concrete," the former Congress president said.
Gandhi said a caste survey being carried out in Telangana is a historic step and the Congress will do the same wherever it comes to power.
