Schedule H

The Indian drug schedule covering prescription-only medicines, dispensed against a registered practitioner's prescription.

Definition

Schedule H, under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, covers medicines that can only be dispensed against a registered medical practitioner's prescription, retained by the pharmacy. It covers the bulk of the pharmaceutical export catalogue and is the reason B2B — not direct-to-consumer — is the legal export model for most products.

Why It Matters

Schedule H status in India does not by itself determine a molecule's prescription classification abroad — the same molecule can be pharmacy-only in India and general-sale in another market, or the reverse.