Dispensing drugs under the direct supervision of Doctors is legal and Ethical if its for their own patients.

 Kerala HC division bench proclaimed on 13th.january 2022, that doctors can dispense medicines in their hospitals to their own patients without pharmacist certificate. But for purchasing and selling of medicines, drug license is must.

Doctors would always be at liberty to arrange to take medicines from the pharmacy and dispense it either under their direct or personal supervision, a kerala high court division bench said while dismissing a writ appeal filed by kerala pharmacist union.

Led by All Kerala Pharmacists Union, the petitioners had approached the HC against a single bench order regarding two orders passed by the Director of Health Services directing that in the absence of a pharmacist in a hospital pharmacy, the medical officers may arrange dispensing of drugs under their direct supervision.
This order was issued taking into consideration Section 42 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 that deals with dispensing by unregistered persons — no person other than a registered pharmacist shall compound, prepare, mix, or dispense any medicine on the prescription of a medical practitioner. Provided that this subsection shall not apply to the dispensing by a medical practitioner of medicine for his own patients, or with the general or special sanction of the state government, for the patients of another medical practitioner.
The question for consideration before the division bench was whether there is any arbitrariness or illegality in the government orders.
The petitioners contended that only persons with a minimum standard of professional education should be permitted to practise the profession of pharmacy and the government order takes away the empowerment of the pharmacist to dispense medicines. They added that in the said government orders there is no empowerment under Section 42 of the 1948 Act to arrange dispensing of medicine by the doctors, and therefore, the said orders are arbitrary and illegal.
But HC observed, “In our view, the said direction was issued by the state government apparently under the proviso to Section 42(1) itself in order to ensure that a patient approaching a government hospital/pharmacy is not unattended for want of a pharmacist. It is clear from the government orders that the medical officer cannot authorize any person to dispense drugs; but, it is explicit and clear that the medical officer is conferred with a power to arrange dispensing of drugs under their direct/personal supervision”. The court further said that this means that power is conferred on the medical officer to attend to a prescription issued by a different doctor other than a doctor discharging the duties on a particular point of time.
“The term ‘arrange’ can never be read and interpreted “as authorising” and also detached from the word direct supervision of the medical officer, in the matter of dispensing drugs without interpreting and evaluating the prescription,” the court said.
Stating that in a hospital, there are various qualified persons –– junior doctors or other qualified doctors –– whose assistance the medical officer can seek to dispense drugs and it is not through any unqualified or totally strange persons. “...the said orders would have to be provided with a purposive interpretation, rather than making a pedantic and narrow approach presuming and visualizing a situation where the doctor is entrusted for the arrangement of dispensing drugs through any person of his choice, irrespective of the requirements of law,” the court added.