Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Online Pharmacies In India Under Scrutiny

Online pharmacies in India are operating in an unregulated manner for long. This has created a serious risk environment for many individuals who prefer to purchase a medicine from an online pharmacy. There is nothing wrong in purchasing a medicine from an online pharmacy provided the pharmacy is legitimate and is in compliance with all the applicable laws pertaining to healthcare.

Internet is full of illegal and unregulated online pharmacy websites. These websites are real health hazard but these websites are also very difficult to regulate as they operate from jurisdictions with low prosecution rates. India is one such jurisdiction that is high on tolerance of illegal online pharmacies. Healthcare technology law and regulations in India need to be strictly enforced in India.

In India we have set laws for opening an online pharmacy store in India. Even the Ayurvedic and Nutraceuticals e-businesses are required to comply with Indian laws to operate legally. Health, food and medicine related legal compliances in India have become really stringent. A good compilation of food, health, cosmetics, drugs, medicines and nutraceutical laws, rules and regulations in India has been provided by New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law.

However, online pharmacies in India are not at all complying with the legal requirements pertaining to their operation in India. Rather they are actively violating the laws of India in this regard. Illegal and unregulated online sale of prescribed medicines in India is still happening despite the threat of the Directorate of Drugs Control of India to punish such illegal pharmacies.

Recently, United States shut down 1677 illegal online pharmacies websites that were not in compliance with US laws. Illegal online pharmacies are also on hit list of Google and federal authorities of US. Even in India some developments have taken place in the direction of curbing illegal online pharmacies. The Maharashtra FDA has approached DCGI for regulating illegal online pharmacies operating in India. Similarly, the Hyderabad drug authorities are also keen on regulating illegal sale of drugs through online mechanism.

Although these are good developments yet they are too insignificant to make any potential impact upon the flourishing illegal online pharmacy industry of India. The websites pertaining to Ayurvedic and Nutraceuticals have further complicated the scenario. It is high time for Indian government to take strict penal action against illegal online pharmacy, Ayurveda and Nutraceutical websites as soon as possible.