Mumbai
Indian Pharmaceutical Association has emphasised the need for more clarity from the Centre on protection of patients' data.
Updated : Oct 18, 2018, 05:15 AM IST
 "Medicines")
Online pharmacies, locked in confrontation with their brick-and-mortar counterparts, are seeking to stay out of regulatory framework on sharing patient data with other parties for as long as they can. They have urged the Centre to hold its proposal to prohibit them from circulating prescription data till details of the Data Protection Bill are finalised.
Pro-online pharmacy body Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) pleaded that the Centre shouldn't make a move till the Srikrishna Committee's report on personal data protection is accepted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
However, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), which is opposed to online operation of pharmacies, asked that checks and balances be clearly mentioned for protection of patients' information, in order to prevent its misuse.
Similarly, the Indian Pharmaceutical Association has emphasised the need for more clarity from the Centre on protection of patients' data.
Arguing its case, the IAMAI said e-pharmacy model adequately addresses the issue of drug consumption without prescription; moreover, it would speed up innovation in healthcare.
But the AIOCD hinted that in the absence of standardisation and validation of digital signature, bogus prescriptions and spurious drugs could be in circulation. "There is the risk that same prescription could be used many times to procure drugs from different online pharmacies," a representative said, requesting anonymity.
The IPA said mere uploading of a prescription, or prescribing drugs online, amounted to oversimplification of a process that needs clear checks.
The IPA stressed the need for clear procedures of how medicines will be dispensed by online pharmacies needs to be laid down for proper functioning.
IAMAI's associate vice-president Nilotpal Chakravarti said the definition of e-pharmacy, "which is outdated" as it doesn't include e-commerce, needed to be reworked. It should make a clear distinction for business models of companies that don't stock and sell medicines, but only facilitate sale, he said, urging the Centre to differentiate between e-pharmacy retailers and wholesalers.
However, AIOCD president JS Shinde has called for statutory clarity on whether an e-pharmacy owner can operate an e-pharmacy if they also own a brick-and-mortar pharmacy, within the same state or can show a license of any pharmacy in any state where they intend to sell the drugs.
Maharashtra's former food and drugs administrator Mahesh Zagde warned that online pharmacies could lead to indiscriminate use of drugs, especially antibiotics, leading to the scary scenario of drug resistance.
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