"We strongly oppose online drugstores. We held an emergency meeting today and will launch a nationwide protest on September 20 to oppose these rules. All pharmacy shops will close down. Our entire association is against online pharmacy as the authenticity of prescriptions on these sites cannot be cross-checked. It will destroy lakhs of jobs," said J S Shinde, president, All India Chemist and Druggist Association (AICDA). The Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) and the Maharashtra Registered Pharmacist Association (MRPA) has also joined the protest against these new set of rules.
The MRPA argued that nearly 8.5 lakh conventional chemist outlets will be shut down leading to the loss of more than two crore direct and indirect jobs
There are more than 280 online medical store start-ups in India, including some big ones like Netmeds, 1mg, Sasta Sundar, Pharmeasy, and Myrameds. They have welcomed the draft rule saying that it will give much needed regulatory clarity to online pharmacies. This is the last bastion of offline trade that is trying to protect its turf from online retailers. Every other category of retail has been affected by online competition from players like Amazon to Flipkart.
Currently, online medical shops are allowed to sell medicines only with a prescription. But AICDA insists that the rules have to include only digital prescription by registered medical practitioner. They insist that scanned copies and prescriptions scanned on mobiles not be considered a prescription. The registered medical practitioner should also register their names for digital prescription as per the Information Technology Act.
The MRPA also stated that the validity period of prescription needs to be specified to prevent misuse.
The IPA insisted that the government will have to extra cautious about sale of medicines through the internet. Only digital prescriptions with chronological numbering pan-India should be accepted as legal prescriptions because the possibility of forging cannot be ruled out if scanned or written prescriptions are allowed.
The draft rules say that online drugstore registration holder will dispense and make arrangement for drug supply from any retail or wholesale licenced premises under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
However, the AICDA and MRPA argue that the licence holder should not directly indulge in sales of medicines as the sale to customers should happen only through existing retail outlets by adhering to geographical barrier. The draft suggests that online pharmacy registration holder will not sell drugs covered under categories of the Narcotic & Psychotropic, tranquilisers and the drugs as specified in the Schedule X of Drug s and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
The MRPA also wants that online medical stores should be barred from selling Schedule H and H1 drugs since many antibiotics are temperature sensitive. Online suppliers will not be able to ensure temperature control on medicines which may cause resistance towards antibiotics. Patients' safety and quality of drug should be of a paramount importance.
The draft states that the supply of any drug can be made against cash or credit. However, AICDA and MRPA said that this compromises the financial and medical privacy of customers. The data for which could be misused or sold to insurance companies and hospitals. The draft prohibits advertisement of drugs through online pharmacy via radio, TV or internet as it could mislead patients. These companies have been advertising heavily on the internet
Read more at DNA
No comments:
Post a Comment