Vijayawada: Pharmacists, wholesale and retail chemists and druggists in Andhra Pradesh are on the warpath over online pharmacies being allowed to continue their operations: this comes in the wake of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI)’s circular, issued at the end of 2015.
The circular does not make mention of imposing a ban on the sale of online drugs or e-pharmacies which act as a marketplace for offline medical stores, but only seeks strict adherence to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules 1945.
Online stores do not directly sell any medicines. The circular’s mention that there should be a strict vigil on the online sale of medicines led to this uproar among the pharmacists of Andhra Pradesh.
The online pharmacies continue to operate, as this circular from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) not imposing any ban but only seeking strict adherence to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules.
The notice sent to various State FDAs mentions that there should be a strict vigil on the online sale of medicines. S. Lakshmi Narayana, a pharma expert, said that online companies generally claim that they do not stock any medicines, but get them fulfilled for customers after they upload the prescriptions.
“Local stores that are present online fulfil the customer’s need,” he said, and by doing so the online companies further claim that they are abiding by all guidelines and adopt all the measures whereby customers could not search for any ‘sensitive’ medicines or Schedule X medicines, such as sleeping pills and drugs falling under the narcotics category, medical termination of pregnancy kits or medication for erectile dysfunction. He also observed that the circular did not specifically mention the kind of violation, and hence, the question of clarity did not arise.
The Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945, under which the circular has been issued, regulates the sale and distribution of drugs in the country and does not distinguish between conventional and over-the-Internet sale of drugs. However, in the last three years, a few trade bodies of offline pharmacies filed complaints.
