Against the backdrop of rampant sale of prescription drugs through online mode, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has filed an FIR against a Delhi-based firm Mchemist Global Pvt Ltd for selling prescription drugs online in violation of Section 18 (c) of Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D&C Act), Rule 65 of the D&C Act, 1940 and under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The FIR has been filed at Nirmal Nagar police station, Khar (E) in Mumbai.

The recent action comes close on the heels of recent Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) circular to all the state drug regulators in the country to keep a check on online firms selling prescription medicines.

An official informed that it is a very difficult operation and has been a subject of interpol operations for the past several years. Operations in around 100 countries globally are going on to tackle this menace as it is ant-social and detrimental for future generations. Transactions are made online through thousands of websites to evade local rules.

The state regulator also detected a unique case of online sale of prescription drugs to overseas clients by a Mumbai based firm recently in contravention to the rules of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Officers of the FDA vigilance team and BMC officers raided the premises of the Mumbai based online firm, and found a team of agents selling the prescription drugs online without wholesale and retail licenses.

The online firm used to sell prescription drugs meant for hypertension and also drugs like sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil to overseas clients in Germany, Canada, Australia and the US without a license in contravention to Section 18 (a) and 22 (1) of D&C Act, 1940.

These drugs which can only be prescribed by a dermatologist, psychiatrist, urologist and endocrinologist used to be sold in the strips of 30, 60, 90, 100 and 200 with the seller or online agent given the target of selling drugs worth 200 USD at one time.

A committee was also constituted by the DCGI as a part of 48th Drug Consultative Committee (DCC) meet in Delhi to frame regulations on online pharmacy in the country, which held its first meeting in September last year under the chairmanship of Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Dr Harshdeep Kamble.

Concerned over the increasing incidents of illegal sale of prescription drugs through websites 2 years ago, the Maharashtra FDA had also written to the DCGI, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and the Union commerce ministry to prepare an action plan to put an end to this clandestine activity.

It has been given to understand that selling of prescription drugs through online is a huge racket as foreign buyers can obtain prescription drugs including addictive anti-depressants, anti-hypertensives and those containing sildenafil citrate (a key component in drugs for erectile dysfunction also used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension) easily and beat stringent rules in their local markets.