Cynthia’s death stirs doctors, pharmacists rift over drug prescription...The Guardian

THE death of Cynthia Udoka
Osokogu has pitted doctors against
pharmacists over the sale of
prescription drugs , as the National
Agency for Food, Drug Administration
and Control (NAFDAC) plans an official
enquiry into the matter.
Osokogu was recently killed by two
young men, after they had given her
a prescription-drug-only obtained
from a qualified pharmacist and
registered pharmacy without a
doctor’s prescription.
The Guardian investigation revealed
that there is no uniform or
customized prescription form in the
country, which is supposed to be
issued annually to medical doctors by
the Medical and Dental Council of
Nigeria (MDCN) upon renewal of their
licences. The Guardian found that in
the absence of uniform prescription
forms, individual doctors and their
hospitals produce their own
prescription forms.
It was also learnt that prescription
drugs could easily be obtained from
most pharmacies and patent
medicine vendors without doctors’
prescription in Lagos but at a higher
cost.
However, the two regulatory bodies
that are supposed to enforce the
prescribing and dispensing of
prescription drugs in the country, that
is the MDCN and the Pharmacy
Council of Nigeria (PCN) declined to
speak with The Guardian on the
issue.
The Acting Registrar of the PCN, Gloria
Abumere, and the Acting Registrar of
the MDCN, Dr. Udugbai Ilevbare
declined comment when contacted.
But President the Nigerian Medical
Association (NMA), Dr. Osahaon
Enabulele, in a telephone interview
with The Guardian said the breach of
the prescription drug rule by
pharmacists was responsible for the
death of Osokogu.
He said: “It is clear there is need for
the whole issue to be enforced to
ensure that pharmacists can only sell
prescription drugs on presentation of
prescription papers from a qualified
medical doctor by a prospective buyer
or patient. The constant breach of this
procedure by most pharmacists is
responsible for the death of Cynthia
and others who might have fallen
victim.
“This is a signal and a call to action
for stakeholders to come together and
regularize the issue of prescription of
drugs, to stop this indiscriminate
dispensing of drugs by pharmacists.”