Delhi High Court has held that online sale of drugs is
illegal as it’s not in
accordance with the Act.
An expert committee appointed by the Drugs Consultative Committee under
the Government of India, has already concluded that online sales of medicine is
in contravention of the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
But , two years back , Hindustan Times ( 21 Dec 2016 ) carried following report :
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The drug committee, in its report submitted to the health ministry, has said medicines could be sold
online, but with changes in several laws .
Currently, medicine sales are banned online.
The report advises the government to amend several acts,
including the IT Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Narcotics Act.
“The report does not deny the possibility of medicine sale
online. It just says several laws need to be changed.
Also, we need a flawless technical
system to regulate sales and route all e-pharmacies through a common
platform,” GN Singh, Drug Controller General of India, told HT.
The number of weekly online shoppers have increased by 33% since
last year, and the number of daily online shoppers have become fourfold from
2013 to 2015.
The government is working on a plan to support e-pharmacies with a strong technology network.
It is likely to test the model by allowing the sale of limited
prescription drugs in the first phase.
Singh said most of the proposals that the state drug controllers
submitted to the government were in favour of the online sale of drugs.
However, patient security still remains a concern.
The government is also planning to tweak the Drugs and Cosmetics Act
as there is no clause on the online sale of medicines.
“We need to amend several acts and they need parliamentary
approvals. This process could take a year or so,” Singh said.
=========================================================
Two years gone but no amendments to the Drug and
Cosmetics Act !
So , the High Court must go by a 78 year old law –
ignoring ,
========================================================
My
Take
:
There
can be no doubt that DRUGS / MEDICINES concern the health of people
Hence
, not only its’ “ selling “ but its “ manufacturing – distribution –
prescribing etc “ , need to be carefully regulated
But
then there are many other items which too , are affecting the well-being of
people
These
are :
·
Cigarettes / Tobacco products / e-cigarettes
·
Junk foods / Certain milk products
·
Sugary drinks
·
Alcoholic drinks
Do
current laws prevent their “ Online “ sale as well ?
Time
is not far when every “ product “ will sell online . Most “ services “ have
already gone online
How
long will it take our Law-makers to come up with an amendment to our Drug and
Cosmetics Act (1940) to regulate any Indian to 3D printing of customized drugs at home ?
Those
who need convincing re this possibility, may want to read up :
Made-on-demand,
complex and personalized 3D-printed drug products
( First 3D printed drug product was approved
by FDA in August 2015. )
3D
printing drugs: more precise, more personalised
( One day the patient
may even be able to print their repeat medications at home using a personal machine )
Related Readings :
3
D - Digital Delivery of Drugs [ 11 Oct 2015 ]
Health
Care through Mobile ? [
24 Nov
2016 ]
Online
Sale of Medicines ? [
24 Nov
2016 ]
Personal
Health History : NHS [ 11 Aug
2018 ]
Ayushman
Bharat : Think Big [ 23 Sept
2018 ]
Modicare
: A Game Changer [ 01 Oct
2018 ]
=========================================================
14
Dec 2018
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
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