New Delhi, May 22 -- The Union health ministry has brought the anticonvulsant and nerve pain drug, Pregabalin, under the stricter Schedule H1 category of the Drugs Rules, 1945, to curb its growing recreational abuse, according to a government official and a notification reviewed by Mint.

The 20 May gazette notification states that the stricter compliance rules will come into effect nationwide in 180 days.

The drug will now be sold only against a valid, stamped prescription from a registered medical practitioner, while pharmacists must maintain a separate register recording the patient's name and address, the prescribing doctor's details, and the quantity dispensed. These records must be preserved for at least three years and will be sub...