Safer remedies : Curbs on alcohol-rich medicine laudable
The Tribune Editorial : The National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at AIIMS has documented the misuse of pharmaceutical preparations
THE Centre’s decision to tighten the sale of oral medicines with high alcohol content is an overdue correction to a loophole that has long enabled misuse. By mandating licences, prescriptions and stricter record-keeping for formulations containing more than 12 per cent ethyl alcohol and sold in larger bottles, the government has finally acknowledged a reality that regulators have ignored for too long: medicines can become intoxicants when oversight is lax. The new rules sensibly balance patient access with public safety. Those with a genuine medical need will continue to obtain these formulations under a doctor’s supervision, while the ease with which they have been diverted for non-medical use will diminish. This matters because adolescents and persons struggling with addiction are often drawn to such products as inexpensive substitutes for beverage alcohol.
