2. 2
An online pharmacy, Internet
pharmacy, or mail-order
pharmacy is a pharmacy that
operates over the Internet and
sends the orders to customers
through the mail or shipping
companies.
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3. Online pharmacies might include:
Pharmacy benefit manager – A large administrator of corporate prescription drug plans
Legitimate Internet pharmacy in the same country as the person ordering.
Legitimate Internet pharmacy in a different country than the person ordering. This pharmacy usually is licensed by its
home country and follows those regulations, not those of the international orders.
Illegal or unethical internet pharmacy. The web page for an illegal pharmacy may contain lies about its home country,
procedures, or certifications. The "pharmacy" may send outdated (expired shelf life) or counterfeit medications and
may not follow normal procedural safeguards.
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6. Seven things
about it:
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• Online pharmacies have affected over
eight lakh official pharmacy retailers
and wholesalers.
• They have faced a total annual loss of
Rs 1,50,000 crore
• According to a report in The Times of
India, this ruling by a bench of Chief
Justice , came after a Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) was filed by Delhi-based
dermatologist Zaheer Ahmed.
6
7. 12/14/2018
• The litigation filed by the dermatologist,
complained how lakhs of medicines were
being sold on the internet each day,
without any rules or regulations,
threatening the lives of patients and also
posing risks for doctors.
• Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the
Pharmacy Act, 1948, does not permit the
online sale of medicines. Also, the Drug
Controller General of India in 2015 had
clearly directed all state drug controllers to
protect public health by restraining such
sale online. And yet, medicines continued
to be traded online. Often, without
prescriptions.
7
8. 12/14/2018
• It added online pharmacies are operating without a drug
license and that this “unregulated sale of medicines online
will increase the risk of spurious, misbranded and
substandard drugs being sold”.
• “Unable to supervise, the government has failed in its
responsibility to protect public health which is its
constitutional obligation under Article 21.
• Unlike common items, drugs are highly potent, and its
misuse or abuse can have serious consequences on human
health, not just for the person consuming it but for
humanity at large as some drugs can be addictive, habit-
forming and harmful to the body. A large number of
children/minor or people from uneducated rural
background use the internet and can be victims of wrong
medication while ordering medicines online,” the PIL
stated.
8
9. NOTHING CAN STOP AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS
COME, THE SOLUTION IS REGULATION, NOT
BAN
10. Currently E-Pharmacies in
India adheres to the Drug
and Cosmetics Act 1940,
Drugs and Cosmetic Rules
1945, Pharmacy Act 1948
and the Indian Medical Act
1956.Online sale of the
prescription based medicines
from the E-Pharmacy’s
website are defined under
the Information Technology
Act, 2000.
Developed foreign countries
like USA, Canada, Australia
and European countries have
legal internet based
regualtory bodies like NABP
(National Association of
Boards of Pharmacy) which is
defined by a government
verified internet pharmacy
sites
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12. In 2015, IIPA (Indian Internet Pharmacy
Association) was formed by 11 initial
start up E-pharmacy companies like 1
MG, Netmeds, Bookmeds, mChemist,
Medlife, Pharmeasy, Medidart,
Medstar, Zigy, Save on medicals and
Save my meds. Currently, Mr. Prashant
Tandon (1 MG founder) is the
president of IIPA. These E-Pharmacy
companies assured an ethical set of
rules and regulations with strict
adherence to existing legal framework
of the nation. This move was equally
supported by the Indian Government
which promotes Digital India seeing E-
Pharmacy as a strong part of it.
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13. Maharashtra State Chemists and
Druggists Association (MSCDA) and
medical services aggregator Medipta
Solutions announced a collaboration
in March to launch an IT platform
that aggregates all medicine retailers
so they can reach patients in 20
minutes using digital prescriptions
and a delivery management
software, according to Shinde, who
is also MSCDA’s president.
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14. Signs of a high-risk online pharmacy:
The pharmacy does not
require a doctor’s
prescription to order
prescription
medications. This is
illegal.
1
The pharmacy’s website
has no phone number or
contact information
other than an e-mail
address.
2
The pharmacy’s website
advertises extremely low
prices on medications.
3
The pharmacy’s website
has no pharmacist
available to respond to
queries about the
medications
4
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15. FAKE
ONLINE
PHARMACY
12/14/2018 15
YOU COULD
RECEIVE
COUNTERFEIT OR
SUBSTANDARD
DRUGS.
SLIGHT
DIFFERENCES IN
YOUR MEDICINE
CAN MAKE A BIG
DIFFERENCE.
MEDICINE THAT MAY
BE APPROVED IN
OTHER COUNTRIES OR
PRODUCED BY
UNKNOWN SOURCES
MAY HAVE SLIGHT
VARIATIONS OR
DIFFERENT
INGREDIENTS
YOU COULD PUT
YOUR PERSONAL
AND FINANCIAL
INFORMATION AT
RISK.
PRIVACY
18. Some online
pharmacy startups
Chennai-based Netmeds was founded
in 2010 by Pradeep Dadha. It is part of
the Dadha & Company, which has
been in the pharmacy retail business
for over 100 years. This online startup
sells both prescription and non-
prescription medicines. The firm also
puts out the price of medicines and
the manufacturer to give a clearer
picture to the end consumer. It has
cumulatively received funding of $64
million
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19. Gurugram-based 1MG was founded in 2012 by Prashant
Tandon, Gaurav Agarwal and Vikas Chauhan. This
Sequoia-backed startup caters to prescription medicine
in Delhi-NCR, Indore, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, , all major
cities in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana,
Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The non-prescription
medicines are delivered pan-India. The startup also
provides for a wide range of healthcare services which
include doctors’ appointment, diagnostic service,
Ayurveda products and also homeopathic medicines.
19
20. Founded in 2015 by Dharmil Sheth and Dhaval Shah, Mumbai-
based PharmEasy is a pharma aggregator, which connects
patients with local pharmacy stores and diagnostic centres. Its
services are available across 700 cities and offers a wide range of
products across prescription and non-prescription category. The
startup also has a provision for return policy on medicines. This
startup has received a funding of $53 million from Bessemer
Ventures and Manipal Group.
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21. This Bengaluru-headquartered startup
was founded in 2014 by Faizan Aziz and
Anirudh Coontoor. It follows an
inventory-led model and has four main
business categories – medicines, baby
care, dental and hygiene products. It is
backed by investors such as Matrix
Partners, Times Internet and Tokyo based
Dream Incubation. It is currently present
in two cities – Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Myra’s USP is that it delivers medicines
within an hour
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