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I know a few med shops who give 10% and even 15% of big purchases. But the thought here is that if they are ready to give this much, then they must be getting even cheaper from the distributors.

What do you mean 'officially'? What or who can stop them?

Why is it illegal to sell anything below the MRP?

I faced similar issue. My wife was prescribed a dose of Sustin tablet for 3 days (6 tablets). I was asked to purchase an entire strip and that costs a lot of money :eek:. I paid 60 Rs more than what i need.

All have formed a "cartel" in my area. No medical shop - Chain or invidual sells a strip.

I am planning to record the same on a Secret Camera and send proof to the authorities and Press.

Are they breaking any laws in your state? Otherwise it's not proof against anything.

Its a law to disburse medicines only as per doctor's recommendation & prescription. If medicines comes in strips of 10, should be buy 10 even if doctor has recommended only 4 tablets?

Argument sake - if Tablets come in cartons of 100, would the pharmacy person force us to buy the whole carton ? :deadhorse. This is clearly a case of cheating the customer.

That's what I am asking. Is there a law which actually states that - if yes, can you give a cite of the law?

Even if there is a law in those words - it may be difficult to find out whose fault it is
- The manufacturer's fault to not manufacture in units which is required
- The dispenser's fault

What if it's a tonic which comes in 100 ml bottles. Doctor asks you take 10 ml for 5 days. What should the pharmacist do?

I think the practice of selling whole strips is a good one.

I have it on good authority that expired and short dated medicines are often sold in the loose / small packing market. You may not even have a chance to see the actual expiry date, as that will have been torn out or as the chap will say went out with the previous sale.

Yes there is a conflict of selling exactly what is prescribed, and the system (I think the rule in some states) of selling whole strips. I will definitely prefer this to the system in the west where you get the exact quantity in a plastic bottle, with a sticker giving details incl the patients name. I will be most worried whether I am getting what is written!

Bang on. I fully agree with you and carboy. Its a complete farce when you see them vend loose tablets/part strips to poor laborers. The poor chaps don't even know the concept of expiry - nor can they verify.

If you get it - its courtesy.

plus, IT systems for billing will completely go haywire trying to reconcile the inventory. As a corporate, they are within their rights to do their business a certain way. its not cheating as long as they are upfront and forthright about it as well?

If your doctor prescribes 5 sleeping pills and you are forced to buy a strip of 10, what will you do with the remaining? Even though we all know how harmful they are, you (or someone in your house) will still use them. They are expensive, you have paid for them and you don't want to throw them away. Now who is at fault?

Or do such drugs (another example - cancer treatment drugs derived from morphine) come as single items?

What if your doctor prescribes you a 10 ml per day for 5 days tonic which comes only in 100 ml bottles? What would you do in such a case?

Medicines are available from various pharmacy companies. For less serious ailments, the same base medicine would be available in smaller quantity.

Of course this is subjective. If the tonic is something I would use later, say for cough or acidity I would buy the bigger sized bottle. If it is a prescription medicine that I hope I would not need later, then instead of focussing on the chemist, I would request the doctor to recommend another similar medicine made by another company. One that offers a smaller size

Doctors are helpful when some medicines are unavailable, so sometimes its better to check with them while they are writing the prescription.

I still think bigger chemists should be able to give tablets according to prescribed quantity only. Who knows when a shortage or supply chain problem can crop up? In that case, someone ends up with 4 extra tablets that he/ she would throw away while someone who needs those 4 tablets has to run from one shop to another to get the medicine.

Edit: I have faced this a couple of times, though it may not be due to the same reason.

Doesn't MRP stand for Maximum Retail Price? I guess including tax etc, you cannot sell anything above this price. Atleast that is what i know.

Hi
The chemist retailers association does not allow them to sell below MRP.
When the chemist makes the bill he makes it at the MRP price and he returns the difference in cash.
Regards

Jaguar
Hi
The chemist retailers association does not allow them to sell below MRP.
When the chemist makes the bill he makes it at the MRP price and he returns the difference in cash.
Regards

Just for the sake of argument, on one hand you say that you don't want to go from shop to shop searching for a medicine and on the other you say you'll go back to the doctor to get an alternative. Wouldn't a desperate person always buy the medicine prescribed by the doc rather than not buying it just for the sole reason that he may not need the full quantity (I am not taking about affordability here)?

I agree that the choice should be with the customer to buy a full strip or just the required quantity but this is one industry where the customer is never the king. But I have seen big hospitals disburse the correct quantity and even take back unused tabs in case of excess purchase.

No, the shop I buy from clearly mentions the discount amount in the bill. And I suppose such a decision by the association definitely wont go well with the law.