Nagpur: Forum slaps Rs1.15L penalty on medical store for selling wrong medicine

Nagpur: Many a times pharmacists hand over a medicine of another brand instead of the one prescribed by the doctor, claiming they have similar contents. A woman handed over a face ointment of another brand by a Mouda-based medicine shopkeeper won Rs1.15 lakh compensation from the consumer court recently, since the alternate medicine caused a reaction on her face leaving dark spots.

Taking cognisance of her complaint, the Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum slapped a cost of Rs1.15 lakh on Saurabh Medical and General Stores, Mouda, Ramtek. The forum agreed the store caused mental and physical harassment, and needs to pay treatment cost to the woman, who’s still undergoing treatment over three-and-a-half-years after she purchased the product.

A bench comprising president Shekhar Muley and members Avinash Prabhune and Dipti Bobde ruled that the proprietor Chandrashekhar Devchand Dangre acted irresponsibly and adopted unethical practices by selling a medicine not prescribed by the doctor. “The shop owner is a registered pharmacist and he should take precaution while selling medicines. He carries a big responsibility on his shoulders as consumers believe him. Due to his wrong prescription, the woman suffered harassment, as her face was damaged for lifetime. Thus, he indulged in deficiency in service as per the Consumer Protection Act, 1986,” the judges held.

Before partly allowing the woman’s complaint, the bench also pulled up the complainant for not seeking a doctor’s opinion when the shopkeeper gave her alternate medicine against the prescription. “She is also responsible for contributory negligence. Hence, her demand for Rs10 lakh compensation can’t be accepted,” the judges said.

The complainant was prescribed an ointment by her family doctor for acne treatment. She went to Saurabh Medical Stores to purchase Aloederm ointment on November 26, 2015. However, proprietor Dangre handed her ‘Derobin ointment’ stating that it had similar contents and only the brand is different.

After its use, she suffered a reaction as dark spots appeared all over her face. She then took treatment from skin specialist Dr Ashutosh Mehta at Nagpur. She even lodged a complaint with Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) department after which the medicine store’s license was cancelled on January 29, 2016. The store owner then challenged this before the concerned minister of state, who stayed the FDA order. She also filed a complaint with the consumer forum and submitted all her documents, including doctor’s prescription and bills of medicine supplied by the store.

She also attached skin specialist’s certificate, which mentioned that she was taking treatment for ‘contact dermatitis due to Derobin’, which was present in ointment given by the shopkeeper.

Dangre in his argument opposed the woman’s charges, stating that she incurred expenditure of only Rs3,772 for her treatment.

The judges held the shopkeeper guilty of providing wrong medicines that led to lifetime damage to the customer. Considering her treatment cost in the future, they imposed a cost of Rs1 lakh towards harassment, Rs5,000 for cost of treatment, and Rs10,000 for cost of litigation, on the shopkeeper.

WHAT FORUM SAID

* Shopkeeper acted irresponsibly, adopted unethical practices

* Sold different brand than prescribed by doctor, indulged in deficiency in services

* Registered pharmacist should take precaution while selling medicines

* Carries big responsibility on his shoulders as consumers believe him

* Due to his wrong prescription, woman suffered harassment

* Her face was damaged & needs to carry scars for lifetime