Karnataka DC registers case against e-pharmacy app for selling banned drugs

BENGALURU, JAN 2017: The Drug Controller of Karnataka has registered a case against Myra Medicines, an e-pharmacy app for clandestine selling of Schedule H drug and other banned medicines in the state without a valid prescription.

The case was registered following a complaint from Swadesh Seva Santha, an NGO. Rahul Singh, an activist from the NGO approached the Drug Controller of Karnataka to report Myra Medicines delivering banned drugs which under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and FDA regulations cannot be sold to patients without a valid prescription signed by a registered medical practitioner.

In order to nab Myra Medicines red-handed, members of the NGO placed various orders through their app. Myra delivered all orders including banned medicines like Corex, Schedule H medicines like Moxikind CV 625mg, Jalra M 50/500mg, Daonil 5mg and Nurokind 500 mcg without a valid prescription.

The activist issued a statement that said "Such practices of delivering banned and psychotropic medicines without a valid prescription can make a drug seem bio-available and safe, when in reality it is not. Long term use of banned drugs like Corex can lead to serious kidney damage or constipation. These banned and psychotropic drugs are being sold in bulk to the youth, which has resulted in high rise of drug abuse and antibiotic microbial resistance".