Over eight and a half lakh chemists all through the country were on strike on Wednesday (October 14th) to protest the sale of drugs online by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) even the All India Institute of Medical Science remained open.
President DRDCA said “we allowed some shops to remain open to provide emergency service to the public”.
Online purchase of medicines has threatens the pharmaceutical industry which are delivering cheaper drugs and it also increased the risk of adverse drug reaction which will give rise to the open entry of sub standard products.
“The government should crack down on any online sale of medicines as it raises the risk of misuse of drugs . At present online pharmacy business is going on illegal and government authorities are not taking any action against it. Hence we have protect the health of the general public.” Said Suresh Gupta the secretary AIOCD.
The Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda said that the government had not taken any decision on allowing online sale of drugs. He assured that views of all stakeholders will be taken into consideration by the Government.
The Drug Consultative committee (DCC) has been constituted to look into the matter which has so far undertaken only preliminary discussions with the stakeholders to ascertain their views.
It was also clarified during the meeting that examination of representations in the matter should not be misconstrued as the intention of the Government to permit any such sale.