India Today carried out a sting operation to find out if the Schedule H drug – Pregabalin – can be obtained over-the-counter in Mumbai. This is what our reporter found.
Recently, a video went viral showing a man in an extremely disoriented state on a road in Maharashtra’s Thane. Rumours said he was under the influence of a so-called ‘zombie drug’. However, police later clarified that the man overdosed on Pregabalin, a medicine used to treat nerve pain. The medicine is a Schedule H drug, which means it can only be sold with a prescription from a registered doctor and breaching it is illegal. India Today conducted a sting operation in Mumbai’s Mira Road–Bhayandar area to see whether this prescription-only drug was being sold over-the-counter.
Our reporter went to as many as four medical stores, and each one was openly selling the Schedule H drug without following the rules. They were being shown the name of the medicine on a mobile phone, and that was good enough to obtain it.
At the first medical store, our reporter asked for Pregabalin by simply displaying the name ‘Pregabalin 300 mg’ on his mobile phone. The chemist said the 300 mg version was unavailable but offered 75 mg tablets and was ready to sell them without asking for a prescription.
Another medical store had the 300 mg tablets. Therefore, our reporter not only purchased them but even prepared a bill before he left the store. Here too, the medicine was available without any prescription.
The third medical store also did not have 300 mg tablets but offered 75 mg ones. The shopkeeper acknowledged that the medicine is used to treat nerve pain but still agreed to sell it without asking for a prescription.
At the fourth medical store, Pregabalin 75 mg tablets were offered without a prescription. The shopkeeper even suggested taking four 75 mg tablets as an alternative to a 300 mg dose and advised buying 150 mg tablets instead, indicating how easily such medicines can be accessed.
The India Today reporter spoke to neurosurgeon Dr Adil Chagla, who explained the grave impacts of Pregabalin, without medical supervision.
He said that the medicine affects sensations in the nervous system and is typically prescribed for seizures.
“These drugs affect sensations in the nervous system. They were originally developed for seizures but are also prescribed to reduce nerve pain. Without proper medical supervision, misuse can be dangerous,” he told India Today TV, cautioning that selling such drugs without a prescription is illegal.
He also called for ethical responsibility from chemists, stressing that a person’s life is associated with the tablet.
In the Thane case, wherein the viral video was recorded earlier last week, the man – identified as Sameer Rajendra Rawal, 22 – told police that he had been addicted to Pregabalin tablets for the past two years. A labourer from Nepal’s Achham district, he came to Mumbai a month ago in search of work and currently lives on a footpath outside Borivali railway station in Mumbai.
