LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has held that a dispenser’s certificate does not authorise a person to independently practise allopathic medicine and restored a fine of Rs300,000 imposed by the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) on a dispenser.
The court also ruled that a drug sale licence only permits the sale of medicines and does not authorise its holder to administer injections or provide medical treatment to patients.
The court passed the order while hearing a petition filed by the PHC challenging a sessions court decision. It set aside the sessions court’s ruling and held that the PHC’s hearing committee was legally empowered to impose fines.
The court observed that proving unauthorised medical treatment did not necessarily require the patient to be produced before the court or a prescription to be recovered. Such a violation could also be established through other available evidence and records, it added.
According to the court, used syringes and injections had been recovered during a raid on the store owned by the respondent, while his admission that he administered injections was also part of the record.
In view of the available evidence, the court held that the PHC proceedings and imposition of the fine were lawful.
The court further observed that where a fine was paid without protest, an appeal against the penalty was no longer maintainable.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026