No more syrups can be bought from pharmacies without a prescription. The central government issued a notification on Tuesday. According to the notification, cough syrups will also come under this directive. This means that consumers can only buy this type of syrup with a prescription from a registered doctor.
In June, a directive was issued under the Drugs (Fifth Amendment) Rules, which will come into force across the country from the date of its publication in the official gazette. This rule came into effect from Tuesday.
In that sense, the central government has removed the word syrup from the list of medicines without any conditions for sale, which can be easily bought from pharmacies. As a result, it is now completely illegal to buy any type of syrup without a prescription.
Earlier there was a nationwide controversy over the cough syrup. The controversy started after the death of at least 22 children in Madhya Pradesh. Investigations are also underway in various states. Some pharmaceutical companies have closed their factories. India has banned all cough and cold medicines for children under two years of age. This time the center took a strict decision on all types of syrup.