Drug retailers protest; demand closure of e-pharmacies

JS Shinde, president of the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, which called the protest, said the retailers’ trade group will consider an indefinite strike if the government does not stop online drug sales within two months.

India is seeing a surge in online sales of everything ranging from furniture to electronic goods to groceries as many in the country get connected to the Internet and payments systems get more secure and convenient. The strike was to attract the attention of the common man and the government to the fact that online sale of medicines is risky as theose drugs may cause severe adverse side effects.

“Only a limited quantity of medicine is sold online. Approximately 800,000 chemists will be on strike”, All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists chief JS Shinde told AFP news agency. Expressing his concerns, Rohit Khanduja of Haryana State Pharmacy Council said the online sale of medicines would lift any check on sale of medicines used by drug addicts.

Drug retailers say e-pharmacies challenge their businesses and would allow medicines that could be abused to be sold without verification. “There are also remote areas in the country where there are no chemists and an online trader can do the business”, said Arvind Singhal, chairman of Delhi-based retail consultancy, Technopak Advisors. Those trying to leverage the online space and opportunities say proper guidelines and regulations by the government for consumer protection, online pharmacies can add huge conveniences and provide more savings to the end consumers in terms of time and money.

“Over 90 percent of the chemist shops across the country are shut today”.

Meanwhile, Indian Pharmacists Association, which maintains that it is opposed to online pharmacies, said that it doesn’t support the chemists’ strike because this could result in a great deal of inconvenience to sick people.

“I had come to the market to purchase a few medicines however when I reached right here I noticed all of the chemist outlets have been closed”. A shut-shop protest is not only unethical but it is unsafe too.

A delegation of AIOCD has submitted a memorandum of demands to several authorities, including the Prime Minister’s Office, the health ministry, the Drug Controller General of India and state authorities, he said.