{"id":658899,"date":"2026-10-27T20:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T20:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/658899\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T20:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T20:20:09","slug":"patients-face-hardship-as-chemists-turn-away-prescriptions-amid-raids-in-punjab-chandigarh-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/658899\/","title":{"rendered":"Patients face hardship as chemists turn away prescriptions amid raids in Punjab | Chandigarh News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PatientsPolice check a chemist shop Patiala\/Amritsar\/Bathinda: For 65-year-old Sandeep Sharma of Ropar, obtaining medicines prescribed for diabetes and neuropathy has become a struggle. Unable to continue medication prescribed by a doctor at a private hospital in Mohali, he reflects the difficulties many patients are facing as chemists across Punjab stop dispensing certain habit-forming medicines.Patients across the state are facing hardship amid an intensified crackdown on the alleged illegal sale of such medicines following the murder of Parminder Singh Jhota, who was killed while opposing the drug menace.The Punjab Chemists Association on Sunday instructed its nearly 27,000 members across the state to stop selling habit-forming prescription drugs, including pregabalin, citing safety concerns amid govt raids. It also directed retailers to return their existing stocks to wholesalers and distributors by the end of the month.Chemists say the enforcement drive, coupled with the return of stocks and suspension of supplies, has disrupted access to medicines even for patients carrying valid prescriptions. They acknowledge that genuine patients are suffering but say they cannot risk action by enforcement agencies.Karan, an executive member of the Chemists Association, said many patients with genuine prescriptions were being turned away at retail counters. He pointed out that several patients from Ropar receive treatment at PGI Chandigarh and obtain prescribed medicines locally for follow-up care. Retail Pharmacy Association president Gurjit Singh Lucky said wholesalers and retailers had already begun returning stocks to pharmaceutical companies.Patiala has around 300 to 325 shops affiliated with the Retail Pharmacy Association, apart from those associated with another chemists\u2019 body. Lucky said his own shop had recently turned away a diabetic patient seeking Mylogen PG, a brand containing pregabalin, after returning its entire stock amid the govt\u2019s intensified enforcement drive.Pharmacy representatives said chemists had stopped selling eight or nine categories of medicines. Under existing regulations, drugs such as tramadol, buprenorphine and codeine require a separate narcotic licence. Only four or five pharmacies in Patiala district hold such licences and are inspected by drug authorities every week, they said.According to Lucky, regular retail chemists could previously sell clonazepam, etizolam and pregabalin in strengths of up to 75 mg, subject to strict record-keeping requirements, while higher-strength pregabalin formulations required a special licence.He said most wholesalers had returned their stocks and informed retailers that supplies would not resume immediately. Pregabalin is expected to come under Schedule H1 regulations from November 12, he added.A chemist from Amritsar said pregabalin and tramadol were in considerable demand among patients suffering from various ailments. \u201cMany chemists are returning part of their stock, while some are claiming they have already sold it, even when they have not, given the demand for these medicines,\u201d he said.Another chemist said pharmacies were refusing to dispense medicines containing these salts even when patients produced valid prescriptions.\u201cWe sympathise with patients who need these medicines, but we have to protect ourselves from harassment,\u201d he said.The enforcement action has been particularly pronounced in Mansa, where four medical stores have been sealed, the licences of three chemists cancelled and that of another suspended. In Moga, three shops have also been sealed.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has reportedly been conducting regular raids at chemists\u2019 establishments and warehouses in Mansa, alongside action by the state govt and Punjab Police. Searches have also been carried out at medical stores in Faridkot, Barnala and Bathinda.GS Chawla, general secretary of the Punjab Chemists Association, acknowledged the hardship faced by patients but said chemists felt they had little choice but to raise their concerns with the govt. The association has urged the govt to ensure adequate supplies of these medicines through govt pharmacies, civil hospitals and Aam Aadmi Clinics, he said. Chawla added that even two days after the association\u2019s call, the govt had not approached it for talks.Despite repeated attempts, health minister Balbir Singh<\/a> was unavailable for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police check a chemist shop Patiala\/Amritsar\/Bathinda: For 65-year-old Sandeep Sharma of Ropar, obtaining medicines prescribed for diabetes and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[296506,296500,296492,296505,296501,296483,296477,296478,296507,296485,296484,296489,296486,296504,296508,296491,296493,163,85,296488,46,296494,296502,482,296503,296497,296487,296490,296499,296480,296498,296481,212918,296479,296476,295641,241534,296496,296495,296482],"class_list":["post-658899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-aam-aadmi-clinics-medicine-supply","tag-amritsar-pharmacies","tag-balbir-singh-health-minister","tag-barnala-chemist-raids","tag-bathinda-medical-stores","tag-buprenorphine-narcotic-licence","tag-cbi-raids-on-chemists","tag-chemists-stop-selling-habit-forming-medicines","tag-civil-hospitals-punjab-pharmacies","tag-clonazepam-sales-restrictions","tag-codeine-licence-requirements","tag-drug-menace-punjab","tag-etizolam-availability","tag-faridkot-medical-stores","tag-government-pharmacies-punjab","tag-gs-chawla","tag-gurjit-singh-lucky","tag-health","tag-il","tag-illegal-sale-of-medicines-punjab","tag-israel","tag-karan-chemists-association","tag-mansa-medical-stores-sealed","tag-medication","tag-moga-shops-sealed","tag-mohali","tag-mylogen-pg","tag-parminder-singh-jhota-murder","tag-patiala-chemist-shops","tag-patients-face-hardship-punjab","tag-pgi-chandigarh","tag-pregabalin-ban-punjab","tag-pregabalin-schedule-h1","tag-prescription-drugs-shortage-punjab","tag-punjab-chemist-raids","tag-punjab-chemists-association","tag-punjab-police","tag-ropar","tag-sandeep-sharma-ropar","tag-tramadol-sales-crackdown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}