Even though the pharmaceutical trade community is continuously opposing introduction of online pharmacy trade, experts in pharmacy are supporting it by accentuating the advantageous part of the e-business.

The only lacunae they find in the system is that it lacks a proper regulatory mechanism and a monitoring authority to check the sources and flow of medicines to different hands. The system has to ensure handling of medicines by registered pharmacists from parceling to delivery.

Since internet pharmacy business allows patients to get quality drugs on lower prices without the role of any intermediary, the system is easy and lucrative as far as the common man is concerned. If the e-pharmacy portal is licensed for online business, illegal sales by unlicensed websites must be stopped and legal action should be initiated against such malpractices. Laws should be framed for punishment of illegal online trade, they comment.

One of the major advantages a patient can avail through online pharmacy is the direct services of registered pharmacists on the advice of registered medical practitioners. Without prescription of a medical practitioner, no medicine will be delivered to the patient’s house by a registered e-pharmacy business portal. But before going ahead with the plan of launching the online pharmacy, the government has to establish a regulatory system for online business, said Dr. K.G Revikumar, while interacting with Pharmabiz.

According to him the criticisms leveled against online pharmacy and e-portal for drug sales are unfair. These criticisms emerge because of lack of knowledge about the system or due to fear of losing business of the conventional traders. The present day pharmacists are computer savvy and their education is also focused on computer application. So, there is no need of anxiety for any kind of burden or technical trouble on the part of new generation pharmacists to manage e-business.

Besides, in online pharmacy business, there is little chance for delivering any kind of spurious medicines, whether date expired or substandard or misbranded or counterfeit drugs, to the patients. Since there is no intermediary like distributors or wholesalers or C&FAs in between the patient and the pharmacy, they will get the latest form of the formulations directly from the manufacturers. The online business portals will have tie-up with manufacturing companies for business dealings. Without the advice of a medical practitioner through his prescription by online, the e-pharmacy portal/website cannot deliver the required quantity of medicines to the patients. This is not a small thing, but a big advantage to the patient.

With the development of online pharma trade all the anomalies prevailing in the present system can be rectified. Internet pharmacy will stop all kinds of interventions by quacks in prescribing modern medicines or chances for crosspathy.  Allopathic drugs will be sold through internet only on the prescription of allopathic doctors. Prescription by a physician from other systems will not be entertained.

Another aspect of the positive side of medicine sale through e-portal is that it does not support open market business. Since business dealings are carried out through online, penal action, if any needed, for any complaint can be immediately taken. All the documentary evidences can be produced online and the copies will be ready with the online pharmacists and the patients. For any inspection or investigation, immediate release of proofs can be made.

In the e-pharmacy system even for an OTC product a medical practitioner’s prescription has to be produced through online. That much accuracy is there for online trade of medicines. Development of online pharmacy will not affect the present retail system by community pharmacies because the online trade is only for planned purchase for stocking medicines at home. For emergency cases, people will depend only on retail shops, Dr Revikumar said.