MEXICO CITY — It is an open secret in Mexico that often ill-trained pharmacy clerks illegally diagnose and prescribe medications for millions of Mexicans every year, sometimes without mentioning potentially fatal side effects.
"It is very probable that [pharmacies] are selling 3 or 4 million prescription drugs a day without prescriptions," said Dr. Luis Zavaleta, president of the Mexican Doctors Assn. "We as a population have to change our culture. The rules exist; however, they are not applied as they should be."
The pharmacy industry and the national Health Ministry, tacitly acknowledging problems in the medication system, have launched pharmacy training programs and public awareness campaigns in the past year. The government also recently put limits on drugstores that don't have full-time registered pharmacists.
And Antonio Pascual Feria, president of the National Assn. of Mexican Pharmacies, said the organization last year adopted a code of good practices for selling medicines, including a strict ban on sales of controlled drugs without a prescription.
Yet a Los Angeles Times researcher was able to buy prescription antibiotics and painkillers at 10 different pharmacies in Mexico City without a prescription. Although the drugs included dipyrone and other medications that could have serious side effects, none of the pharmacy clerks mentioned any possible dangers.
"This is incorrect. This sale was illegal," Pascual said when shown bottles of the medicines. "These pharmacies could face a fine of 90,000 pesos [$9,300]."
"We are trying to get pharmacies to take responsibility," Pascual added. "We understand that our survival depends on ethical practices, not fraudulent practices."
In Mexico, the absence of consumer information in drug packaging is intentional. Under Mexican policy, people are meant to use prescription drugs only under a doctor's direction, not to decide for themselves what to take. Information is limited to prevent inappropriate self-medication.
"We are absolutely against self-medication," said Dr. Luis Fernando Hernandez Lezama, chief advisor on regulatory issues in the Ministry of Health.
Yet Dr. Raul Enrique Ojeda Silva, a medical forensic specialist, calls it "one of the most serious problems we have."
"In Mexico, medicines are available that are contraindicated or not allowed in other countries," Ojeda said.
