Stock up on the essential meds because 8 lakh chemists across the country will soon be going on strike

Your neighbourhood chemist isn’t really happy about the fact that you are buying medicines online. To protest about the fact that medicines are being sold online, which may soon turn to a potential threat for brick and mortar chemists, nearly eight lakh chemists across the country have decided to keep their stores closed on October 14.

The pre-emptive move from India's most powerful lobby of stockists and distributors of drugs signals an intensifying stir even as a government appointed committee is tasked with examining whether and how online pharmacies can be allowed to supply drugs directly to patients.

Representatives of All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) last week said at a meeting with the committee headed by Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration commissioner Harshdeep Kamble that the practice of online pharmacy is "totally illegal when examined in the context of Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Information Technology Act".

AIOCD president Jagannath Shinde has said that the online pharmacies have a tendency to sell medicines to fictitious buyers without authorised prescriptions.

The members of the organisation also cited a legal proviso which states that no person other than a registered pharmacist shall compound, prepare, mix, or dispense any medicine on the prescription of a medical practitioner.

In contrast, a rapidly expanding community of online pharmacies has rallied in support of sale of drugs through the internet while favouring tighter regulations to curb misuse or indiscriminate sale of prescription drugs.

"The government should factor in the convenience to patients. Also, in terms of keeping record, ensuring quality and tracking prescriptions, online pharmacies that are backed by sound promoters are as good as the best of offline outlets," said Rajiv Gulati, mentor, mChemist Global.

Gulati said online pharmacies, as seen in developed markets, are enabling benefits to patients such as better compliance through additional services such as reminders and ensuring audited health records. Another promoter of an online pharmacy venture, requesting anonymity, a Net -based pharmacy startups are supplying quality drugs at discounted prices and are seen as a threat to chemists who have so far monopolised the business, told the financial daily. He said a majority of chemists do not appoint pharmacy graduates, a mandatory legal requirement, in turn leading to proliferation of questionable drugs in the market.

"We favour clear operating guidelines and an accreditation process for online pharmacies to distinguish from those who indulge in illegitimate transactions," said the promoter. The government has a tough task of striking a delicate balance between the two sides.