TITLE: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF DRUGS DISPENSED OVER THE COUNTER WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION FOR COMMON COLD AND SORE THROAT BY PHARMACIES OF A SOUTH INDIAN CITY.

Abstract

: In developing countries, people directly approach pharmacies for medicines without a doctor's prescription for minor ailments. Though there are some medications licensed for dispensing as over the counter drugs (OTC) drugs, the pharmacists in the medical shop tend to give drugs that are not approved for OTC dispensing. Use of OTC drugs has increased rapidly in the few years. The OTC Pharmaceuticals market in India is projected to grow by 10.98% (2024–2029), resulting in a market volume of US$947.40 million in 2029. The misuse of OTC drugs can adversely affect the health of the common man.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out targeting the pharmacies in a south Indian city. The investigator visited 50 medical shops like a common man and requested medications for common cold and sore throat. The drugs were collected in a zip-lock bag. The pharmacy name and collected drugs were coded in numbers. Collected drugs were stored in the department of pharmacology. Data analysis was done in Microsoft Excel.

Results: All the pharmacies responded to by the investigator. The fifty pharmacies dispensed around 16 classes of drugs as OTC from the pharmacy. 32% dispensed irrational fixed dose combination drugs (FDCs), and 18% dispensed rational FDCs. WHO has classified antibiotics into ‎Aware class which means‎ Access, Watch, Reserve. 60% of dispensed antibiotics were in the watch group, and 40% of drugs were in the access group of antibiotics. Around 80% followed standard treatment guidelines (STG), and 20% followed non-standard treatment guidelines.

Conclusion: The study showed that the pharmacists rampantly dispensed the drugs without any prescription. It can lead to irrational use of drugs by the consumers which were dispensed over the counter by the pharmacies. This might increase the cost of health care in the future and may cause serious adverse effects. In addition, proper diagnosis may be missed, and drug interactions can occur. So, we conclude that strong guidelines, regulations, and awareness should be made and implemented to prevent the irrational dispensing of drugs over the counter.