E-Pharmacy : A cause of worry

Why in news: 

A case was emerged where Snap deal and some other e-commerce company were criticised for allegedly selling drugs including prescription drugs.Recently Drug Controller-General of India (DGCA)permitted online pharmacy netmeds.com to sell medicines through online booking.Owing to which many chemist have come to protest this move. 

Background:

• Selling medicine  online is prevalent in advanced countries and it is also mushrooming in India owing to booming e-commerce business. Sale of over-the-counter medicine is permissible online but selling prescription drugs(where doctor’s prescription is needed ) is not allowed.
• The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, have guidelines on Scheduled drugs which can be sold only on prescription and there are specific rules, including for labelling.
• And in India e-pharmacy is still in nascent stage and there is no dedicated law for it.
• Though Information Technology Act,2000 regulates some legal issues in online dealings but is silent on e-pharmacy.As a result various cases of illegal online selling of drugs have been emerged.

Why e-Pharmacy is cause of worry:

• As Scheduled drugs are to be taken as per the doctor’s prescription ,there is danger of re-using  and misusing prescription randomly on online platforms.
• There are many ‘do’s and don’ts’ with regard to storage of prescription medicines and there might be possibilities that these online platforms do not follow these guidelines(due to lack of proper warehouse).
• It would encourage the practice of self-medication. Indiscriminate usage of medicine without guidance is a leading cause of drugs resistance which is often seen in cases of MDR/XDR and antibiotic resistance.
• As Govt. is working towards providing more generic medicines to people(to restrict their ‘out-of-pocket’ expenditure’) but with online selling of prescription drugs(that to expensive branded drugs) will only harm customer’s money.
• Without any proper regulations it could also lead to smuggling of narcotics in the name of drugs.
• Apart from that there is also concerns regarding small retailers. As there are many manufacturing companies for drugs on same disease so chemists have to kept medicine for long which sometimes results into expiry of medicine(means loss of investment).And with online selling the competition for small retailers have increased.

Need of hour:

The e-commerce business is booming globally and it is the time to integrate e-commerce into mainstream. However pharmacy is one field where no compromise could be made and having a regulatory framework for online selling(keeping in mind of all stakeholders like small retailers) is very essential at the moment.