New Delhi, May 6 -- The liberalization of India's economy, as tracked by an embrace of free-market principles, has been rather slow in chipping away at old precepts of a nanny state. We should thus welcome the government's effort to ease the retail availability of medicines that can safely be sold over the counter (OTC): i.e., without a doctor's prescription.

As reported by Mint, the Drugs Technical Advisory Board is seeking a tweak in regulations to first define OTC drugs clearly and then license a wide set of retailers to sell these. As of now, such pills can only be dispensed by chemists with qualified pharmacists behind their counters (or web interfaces). As the report indicates, the government's OTC list is likely to include regular...