Shillong dentist writes prescription for liquor

Patient has withdrawal symptoms

05/04/2020, RAHUL KARMAKAR,GUWAHATI

To drink or not to drink. This is the subject of a lively debate in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

A dentist in the city on Friday prescribed two bottles of whiskey to a 65-year-old male patient, advising him not to drink more than two pegs a day.

The doctor cited the case of Kerala in justifying the prescription. He said his patient was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

“I have advised him to consume alcohol in limited quantity,” he said.

The dentist’s prescription coincided with an appeal by the Wine Dealers and Welfare Association in Shillong to Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma seeking permission to open their outlets across the State with immediate effect. The association said the lockdown had increased the demand for liquor.

Their appeal followed the withdrawal of an order by the State government asking bonded warehouses to sell liquor. The order was withdrawn after the Indian Medical Association objected to it.