If you also buy medicines online then this news is for you. The online medicine market in India is growing rapidly. In such a situation, you should also know in advance about the changes in the Pharmacy Sector. From Apollo Pharmacy to Tata Group's One MG and Reliance's Netmeds, it has become very easy to buy medicines sitting at home.

offline vs online pharmacy

Generally, online pharmacy also gives a good discount, but it is becoming difficult for a pharmacist who has opened a chemist's shop to fight with an online pharmacy. Neither they are in a position to give such discounts and following all the rules and regulations of the government is also necessary for offline pharmacies ie chemist's shops. In such a situation, the decreasing number of customers has made the chemists cry. Therefore, for more than 5 years, the Chemists Association has been fighting a war against the online medicine platform.

letter to the cabinet secretary

Now the Chemists Association has written a letter to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba saying that online medicines in India are being sold without a license in violation of rules and regulations. This should be banned. All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) is an association of 12 lakh chemists. Citing the 2018 order of the Delhi High Court, he has said that the court has stayed these platforms from selling medicines without a license, yet these medicines are being sold.

First caught notice of 20 companies

This issue is not new. In February this year, the Union Health Ministry also sent notices to 20 online pharmacy companies asking how they could sell unlicensed medicines. However, in this regard, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), while handing over the status report to the government, had said that there is no such provision in the existing Drug and Cosmetic Act in India, which is made for online drug platforms.

Counterfeit medicines can reach the market

Let us tell you that when these laws were made, the word online was not even invented, but after constant pressure from the regular chemist's shop body, the government issued a show cause notice. It is feared about the online platform can collect the data of patients and misuse them. Drugs, pregnancy termination drugs, and some banned drugs are also available on the online platform. Fear is also expressed that in order to sell cheap medicines, spurious medicines may reach the market. This can put patients at risk.

The government is preparing the bill

For a permanent solution to this problem, the government is making a New Drugs, Medical Devices, and Cosmetics Bill, 2023, which will replace the old law, but till then no one knows what will happen. There is a lot of delay in making this bill and online companies are worried about their future. It is often argued on their behalf that the government does not give time to all of us to meet and talk to the officers of one or two companies as per their choice. But the big question among all this is that if doctors can be virtual then why can't medicines be available virtual?

Who is responsible for bad medicine?

Rules can be made for online platforms that they will not sell any medicine without uploading a prescription, but it is not a difficult task today to take antibiotics to sleep medicine without a prescription from a chemist's shop open in the street. However, when buying medicine online, it becomes difficult to be accountable that if the medicine turns out to be bad, you will not have a person in front of you but a website that you may have to fight with. Actually, the whole game is to keep big shops running as compared to discounts. Just like the company selling clothes online is giving competition to the big showrooms made in the market. That is why instead of stopping online medicines, the government is working on bringing rules for them.