Schedule HX: A Proposed Solution to ever increasing problem of Antibiotic Resistance!!

No, we are not talking about any drug or a device that may help combat Antibiotic resistance, the extent of which has gone out of bounds due to the random popping of these pills by the people.

What we are talking about is a new Schedule(HX), an amendment to the Drugs & Cosmetics Act,1945  proposed by the Union Health ministry in a bid to prevent large scale misuse of antibiotics in the country.


Through this ,India plans to ban the availability and over-the counter sale of the latest generation of antibiotics from general pharmacies.The move is expected to end the obsession with popping a pill.


The ministry has identified a group of 70 antibiotics to be included in this restricted category of drugs. Currently, antibiotics are placed under the Schedule H of the D&C Act.  The new Schedule will require doctors and chemists to retain prescriptions so that the abuse of antibiotics could be checked from now onwards. Once the policy takes effect, doctors, while prescribing antibiotics, will have to issue two prescriptions to every patient and one copy should be kept for a period of two years by the chemists. The officials from the DCGI office or state regulatory authorities can, thus, audit these prescriptions at any time. Violations under the new Schedule may be punished with a fine of Rs. 20000 or up to two years of imprisonment.  Antibiotics would be categorised as non-restricted, restricted and very restricted. Each category would have a distinct colour code for the benefit of consumers


The schedule has two parts: 
Part A of Schedule HX has 16 drugs and antibiotics that shall be sold directly by drug manufacturers to the tertiary care hospitals.These drugs will have a label with a red box,and will be marked as for use in tertiary care hospitals only.Drugs include-Moxifloxacin,Meropenem,Ertapenem,Doripenem,Linezolid and Cefpirome,etc.


Part B of Schedule HX has 74 drugs and formulations that will carry the warning that it is dangerous to take this preparation except in accordance with medical advice and not to be sold by retail without the prescription of the doctor. Drugs include: Gentamicin,Amikacin,Penicillin,Oxacilin,Norfloxacin,Cefaclor and Cefdinir,etc.

A Union health ministry official said: We are ready with the notification to bring around 90 drugs under a new strict schedule so that they arent randomly used.They are the third and the final generation of antibiotics.Random popping of these pills would make people resistant against the last available generation of antibiotics. 



Seems the Indian Govt. has finally woken up from a slumber!!

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