With the second wave of COVID-19 scaling new peaks on a daily basis, many patients and some with suspected symptoms are relying on prescriptions shared on WhatsApp, instead of approaching doctors. Most of these drugs are freely available over-the-counter, including antibiotics that are not supposed to be sold without a valid prescription. A little birdie told Moneycontrol that some pharma companies are taking advantage of this situation by pushing their brands. This reporter saw one such WhatsApp forward prescription with 13 medications, that includes two antibiotics, an assortment of vitamin brands, heartburn, blood thinner and anti-inflammatory medication. This prescription doesn’t have the doctor’s name on it and one can suspect who is the original source!
