After facemasks and hand sanitizers, now there is a mad rush across the city for the homoeopathy drug Arsenicum Album 30 as the Ministry of AYUSH has recommended it as a prophylactic for COVID-19. Taking advantage of the sudden surge in demand, several chemists have started selling it for a much higher price than the medicine's actual market value. mid-day visited a number of stores, where the shopkeepers claimed that the manufacturers were charging them more and hence, the higher prices.

The market price of a small bottle containing 100 globules (I dram) of the medicine is Rs 20, but chemists were found to be selling them for prices between Rs 70 to Rs 150.