Mohali, November 4:- Amid a statewide standoff between chemists and the administration, patients are facing considerable difficulties in obtaining medicines prescribed by doctors as psychotropic drugs remain unavailable at medical stores.
The Punjab Chemists Association had decided last month to immediately suspend the sale of all habit-forming medicines, including Pregabalin, across the state. Association office-bearers had stated that licensed chemists were required to follow lengthy procedures for maintaining records of psychotropic medicines, yet they were being portrayed as drug traffickers.
With these medicines disappearing from medical stores, patients holding valid prescriptions, particularly senior citizens, are being forced to return empty-handed.
Chemists allege that they are being harassed, while doctors say the move has affected legitimate medical use. Patients undergoing orthopaedic treatment, joint replacement procedures and psychiatric treatment, as well as those suffering from chronic pain, have been among the worst affected.
Hardev Singh, a resident of Sahnewal, who underwent bilateral knee replacement surgery at a private hospital in Ludhiana two weeks ago, said his doctor had prescribed Pregabalin for pain relief, but he had been unable to obtain it.
He further said, "I cannot sleep at night because of unbearable pain in my legs. I have visited several medical stores in Doraha, Sahnewal and Ludhiana, but nobody is providing the medicine. Until an agreement is reached between the government and chemists, patients like me will continue to suffer."
Kamaljit Kaur, a resident of Doraha, is suffering from diabetic neuropathy and has been dependent on Pregabalin for the past two years. She said her anxiety was increasing with each passing day as her medicine was about to run out.
She said, "I cannot walk without Pregabalin. My feet feel as if they are burning, and I experience a pins-and-needles sensation around the clock. I have only two strips of medicine left. The administration must distinguish between misuse and legitimate medical use."
The situation of cancer patients presents an even more serious picture.
A woman whose husband is suffering from end-stage cancer and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Ludhiana said, "Apart from Tramadol, all other painkillers have started affecting his kidneys. I can no longer bear to see him suffer in agony."
Dr. Harpreet Gill, an orthopaedic surgeon from Ludhiana, said that Tramadol and Pregabalin are commonly prescribed to patients undergoing knee replacement surgery and in cases of fractures.
Vijay Puri, president of the Sahnewal Chemists Association, alleged that the police were harassing chemists.
He claimed, "The police arrive for inspections without a drug inspector. Even if two extra strips are found, they register a case and seal the shop. They lack proper knowledge and sometimes even mistake Preganews for Pregabalin."
Jandeep Kaushal, a chemist from Doraha, claimed that the killing of anti-drug activist Parwinder Singh Jhota had further aggravated the situation. He said, "After Jhota's murder, every chemist is being treated like a drug trafficker. Patients will suffer, while those misusing medicines will manage to obtain them from other places at higher prices."
Punjab Chemists Association General Secretary G.S. Chawla asserted that they would not sell the medicines until the government provided a written assurance that inspections would be conducted strictly according to prescribed rules and only in the presence of the concerned drug inspector.
When contacted in this regard, Drug Inspector Amarjit Singh said that his office had not received any formal complaint regarding the non-availability of these medicines.
