The All India Chemists and Druggists Association has launched a nationwide protest against the Union government’s move to legalise online drug retailing. They closed down pharmacies for a day as part of the agitation.
We have been debating the problems posed by online drug retailing in developed countries.
Online sales of drugs have already started in India as part of a general shift towards e-commerce. The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 has categorised medicines into prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs. An online store allows anyone to buy any drug without a doctor’s prescription. They can even buy from online stores outside India.
Electronic prescriptions by doctors can also be used to buy medicines, according to the latest Pharmacy Practices Regulation approved by the Pharmacy Council. The rule has been interpreted as a nod to using electronic prescriptions or scanned copies of prescriptions for buying drugs online.
So many online drug stores have been found to be operating in India without any authorisation. The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration has recently unearthed 27 unauthorised online drug stores that had stocked drugs worth Rs 2 crore in Mumbai.
Many of these sites claim to be professional websites. They claim to be authentic, hiding the side effects of the drugs they put up for sale while projecting their benefits. Most of this information is false.
Consumers can directly buy from these sites drugs that have been banned or regulated for use in a specified condition. Online stores do brisk sales of sexual stimulants. Drugs such as Viagra are marketed by withholding information on their serious side effects.
Even when they sell drugs that are really useful, many online stores are found to be selling substandard and outdated medicines. Drugs are sold at a discount at these sites, as with any other e-tailers. There is a counter argument in favour of online drug sales, saying that they help customers by saving the time spent on visiting doctors and ensuring speedy delivery of cheap medicine.
Many countries have started responding to the challenges of online drug stores, mainly through legislation to regulate them. The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration is investigating into about 200 websites suspected to be selling drugs not approved by the agency and not prescribed by doctors. U.S. laws stipulate that online drug stores have to be approved by the FDA and they have to operate in accordance with federal laws. Violators can be fined up to $5,00,000.
Regulating online drug stores is easier said than done, as evident by the experience of many countries who have tried it. There are 2,986 online drug stores operating from different countries. Only two of them have been approved by authorities. The unauthorised stores are selling drugs worth $1,200 crore.
Authorities are trying to create software that can detect websites which facilitate unauthorised drug sales.
The government’s move to legalise online drug sales is likely to aggravate the problems plaguing drug sales, especially since the government is not able to enforce existing rules.
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