Dispensing drugs without prescriptions and the separation of drug dispensaries from the medical practice

: Many cases of dispensing drugs without doctors' prescriptions were reported throughout Japan during 1914-16. Some cases were brought to the courts. Pharmacists had been selling prescription drugs to their customers without prescriptions. This dispensing act was admitted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs after 1913. However, doctors claimed that the act of dispensing drugs without a prescription infringed on Law No. 10, and the Japan Pharmacists Association hired a notable lawyer and fought a lawsuit against eight pharmacists who dispensed prescription drugs without prescription in Shiba Ward, in Tokyo. This case occurred because at that time no practice existed that allowed drugs to be dispensed separately from medical practice.