The All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has recently expressed concern over the partnership between Swiggy Instamart and PharmEasy for a rapid drug delivery model in the country. Instamart is the grocery service arm of the online food ordering and delivery company Swiggy, and PharmEasy is an online drug delivery platform which offers a variety of products and services throughout India. According to the reported partnership, the two entities will join hands together to deliver medicines ordered online, within 10 minutes through dark stores. The AIOCD, which claims to have more than 10 lakh members in its fold, has taken up the issue with the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and has apprised that this move is against the standards set under Indian law and may lead to serious health and safety issues to the people. The trade body has urged the country’s drug regulator to take immediate action to control a possible menace in the drug distribution system in the country as the ultra-fast delivery model launched by the online companies may lead to circulation of expired and counterfeit drugs in the market as this rapid delivery system cannot follow the required legal and quality standards. The trade body argues that this partnership will endanger the health of common citizens besides ignoring important standards like proper prescription checking and patient identification. It argues that this collaboration will further violate the existing drug rules in the country. There are strict rules for drug distribution, storing and delivery, which ensure patients’ safety. But this delivery via dark stores within 10 minutes will cause the collapse of all the drug laws in the country. The AIOCD further apprised the DCGI that at a time when the country is taking steps to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through a number of initiatives, this ultra-fast delivery model will undermine the efforts of the government to tackle the AMR menace.
Of course, this new development has once again triggered the need for a new set of rules to govern the e-pharmacies in the country. In the absence of clear-cut provisions in the D&C Act regarding the sale of drugs through e-pharmacies, utter confusion prevails in the country's pharmaceutical market at present. The country presently does not have a regulatory mechanism for online sale of drugs and the laws governing the brick-and-mortar pharmacy business are applicable to the e-pharmacies as well. The D&C Act does not distinguish between conventional and online sale of drugs and the unfolding situation has resulted in the verbal duel between the offline and online pharmacy associations. AIOCD, which claims to have more than 10 lakh members in its fold, has literally been on warpath and had started a country-wide agitation against the lackadaisical attitude of the Central and State governments in restraining the unethical trade practices being followed by e-pharmacies. Of course, the scope for e-commerce in the pharmaceutical sector is immense and if properly regulated, online pharmacies in India could prove beneficial to various stakeholders. However, there is a serious need for framing the laws within India, as the online pharmacy laws in India are still in nascent stage and there are no dedicated online pharmacy laws in India. In the absence of regulatory guidelines, there is always a threat and possibility of supplying illegal or unethical medicines or outdated, substituted, or counterfeit medications to the person, who ordered the drug online. The government should pay serious heed to the issues raised by the AIOCD.
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