Govt. Will Regulate Sale Of Medicines Via Online Registration; Wholesalers, Retailers Will Be Mandated To Sell Only Registered Drugs
Regulation is being done to stop sale of illegal drugs
In a sweeping change, Govt. has announced that they will regulate sale of every medicine sold anywhere in the country. A special portal would be launched soon, which will act as the hub of all medicines and drugs being sold in India.
As per incoming information, no one would be authorized to sell any medicine which is not registered in the portal. Every wholesaler, retailer, pharmacist associated with the selling of medicines and drugs would be required to be registered in that portal.
In short, Govt. will check every drug, medicine being sold, and to whom.
Is this the new medical revolution, which was promised by the Govt. earlier?
Why Govt. Took This Decision?
Sale of non prescribed, and illegal drugs to youngsters seems the trigger for this rule.
The announcement regarding regulation of medicines by Centre Govt. was made by Maharashtra Govt., when it informed a division bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar in Bombay HC.
The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Mayuri Patil, which claimed that several Schedule H drugs which were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were being sold by online portals, which is grossly violating the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
While replying to the PIL, State Govt. filed an affidavit, which stated that Centre is planning to regulate entire medicine sale inside India, by creating an online registration portal for all sellers.
The affidavit said, “The objective of such a regulation would be to ensure availability of right drugs that meet the standards of quality to every person in need of medicines, curbing anti-microbial resistance and also regulating supply of medicines online or over the internet to persons or other entities outside India,”
Medicine Regulation – How Will It Work?
As per the affidavit, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will create an autonomous body, which will regulate the sale of medicines in the country, by creating a special online portal for the same.
Some of the pointers:
- Every wholesaler, retailer and distributor will be required to register with the portal
- When they supply medicines to retailers, then the stock transferred needs to be updated in the portal
- No retailer, chemist and e-pharmacist would be allowed to sell any medicine which is not registered with the portal
- Pharmacy outlets would be required by law to update any stock received, sold and the number of units being returned or disposed/destroyed by any means.
- Medicines under Schedules H, H1 and X of the Act will be sold only via prescription, whose copy needs to be updated in the e-portal
- Prescribing doctor’s registration number, name and registration number of the chemist and the quantity supplied needs to be updated in the e-portal
- And, the final kill: All invoices has be generated only via this e-portal
As per the details coming from the affidavit, it seems that the Govt. has devised a pretty fool-proof plan for securing the sale of medicines in India.
Will this work? Do let us know by commenting right here.
We need to do lot of Homework at the Medical practitioners level before implementing something like a e-portal.
In a country where majority of doctor’s are not in a habbit of printing their registration number on Prescription,how do you expect regulations to be implimented on channels of business like wholesaler or Retailer’s.
Doctor’s prescription is the Origin of any medicine prescribed.If they are monitored automatically the system will fall in Line.
Only becoming harsh only on the traders of Pharmaceutical industry is not the solution to the issue.
Patient education and awareness will also make a difference.
At present for a patient the place where they get maximum discount is the best place to look for medicine’s.Discounts stands one step ahead of services and patient counselling.I am a Pharmacist by profession past 30 years so it gives me lot of pain when I see the trade falling to such low levels.