Please ensure that you take the following precautions while purchasing medicines from any shop

1) Do not buy medicines without Prescription:- Do not buy medicines from a medical shop without prescription from a doctor.  You may think you may be saving consultation charges to be paid to your doctor, but actually you are taking a big risk, because the medical shop person is certainly not as qualified as your doctor.  Even assuming that the medical shop owner is very experienced  and may also be very well known to you and his intentions towards to you regood, but still  he  himself being a human being is bound to make a error, by giving  you the wrong medicine.  When a very well qualified doctor can make a mistake, why cant a medical shop owner being less qualified than the doctor be perfect.

2) Do not buy substitute:- If the medicine prescribed by your doctor is not available at the medical shop, the shop keeper may give you a substitute.  Some shopkeepers take the liberty of  offering substitute to you  without even consulting you, while some convince you to buy substitute by showing you some brochures or leaflets to justify it.  If you have made up your mind to buy the substitute, then call your doctor from your mobile in front of him and tell your doctor the name of substitute medicine.  If your doctor says it is ok, then go ahead and buy the substitute.

3) Manufacturing Date:- Most people look at the expiry date of the medicine before buying the medicine but never look at the manufacturing date.  Let us look at an example

Manufacturing Date Oct 2006

Current Month Oct 2009

Expiry Date Jan 2010

You may buy the medicine thinking that there is another 3 months for the medicine to expire.  However if you look at it differently, the medicine was manufactured 3 years back.  The medicine if it was not properly stored in medical shop would have decayed since it is already 3 years old and could have possible side effects.

4) Do not buy medicine without bill:- If the medical shop owner, refuses to give a bill, then please do not purchase from that shop.  It is very unlikely that he will take responsibility of that medicine sold to you if anything goes wrong.

Regards

Satish