Some Benefits and Risks of Online Pharmacy

Online pharmacies can be classified basically as –

1. Legal online pharmacy websites providing high-quality pharmacy services according to verification standards. In such type, a technology company bound with a neighboring licensed pharmacist and an offline licensed pharmacist provides a service to patients through e-pharmacy.
2. Illegal online pharmacies that are not verified and may not comply with national or international professional standards and regulations. In these drugs are shipped across the borders of various countries without any type of prescriptions.

Here are we listed some benefits of online pharmacy.

• Convenient and time-saving.
• Low cost as compare to offline pharmacies because there is no any interference of middlemen.
• Access 24 hours a day.
• Easy comparison of medicines in terms of cost.
• Delivery of medicines at step of home.
• Privacy should be maintained.
• Online pharmacies might include:
• Pharmacy benefit manager – A large administrator of corporate prescription drug plans
• Legitimate Internet pharmacy in the same country as the person ordering.
• Legitimate Internet pharmacy in a different country than the person ordering. This pharmacy usually is licensed by its home country and follows those regulations, not those of the international orders.
• Illegal or unethical internet pharmacy. The web page for an illegal pharmacy may contain lies about its home country, procedures, or certifications. The "pharmacy" may send outdated (expired shelf life) or counterfeit medications and may not follow normal procedural safeguards.
• Conventional stationary pharmacies usually have controlled distribution systems from the manufacturer. Validation and good distribution practices are followed. Home delivery of pharmaceuticals can be a desirable convenience but sometimes there can be problems with uncontrolled distribution.
• The shipment of drugs through the mail and parcel post is sometimes a concern for temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals. Uncontrolled shipping conditions can include high and low temperatures outside of the listed storage conditions for a drug. For example, the US FDA found the temperature in a mail box in the sun could reach 136 °F (58 °C) while the ambient air temperature was 101 °F (38 °C)
• Shipment by express mail and couriers reduces transit time and often involves delivery to the door, rather than a mail box. The use of insulated shipping containers also helps control drug temperatures, reducing risks to drug safety and efficacy.

Risks and Concerns

• Illegal or unethical pharmacies sometimes send outdated, substituted, or counterfeit medications .
• Sometimes an online pharmacy may not be located in the country that is claimed. For example, one study of drug shipments claiming to be from Canada revealed many actually originated in several different countries and were often bogus medications.
• Minors or children can order controlled substances without adult supervision.

Other concerns include potential lack of confidentiality, improper packaging, inability to check for drug interactions, and several other issues.

• Risk of drug abuse.
• Risk of drug misuse.
• Chances of drug interaction.
• It will promote self medication.
• Purity and quality does not assure.
• Affect business of offline pharmacist.
• Illiterate peoples do not access.

Legality and risks of purchasing drugs online depend on the specific kind and amount of drug being purchased. The FDA believes that many selling illegal pharmaceutical products without prescriptions are controlled by organized criminal networks. In 2014, The U.S. FDA, in partnership with other federal and international agencies and technology companies like Google, took action against websites, some based in India, that were selling drugs to U.S. consumers. Mail Order pharmacies are regulated by the federal laws of the US and hundreds of them operate legally in the US. ICANN and U.S. regulatory authorities are also engaged in hot debate about blocking and seizing of illegal online pharmacies websites that ICANN is not very much interested in doing these days.

Enforcement:

It is illegal to purchase controlled substances from an overseas pharmacy. A person purchasing a controlled substance from such a pharmacy may be violating several federal laws that carry stiff penalties.

• Any package containing prescription drugs may be seized by US Customs and Border Protection. The package may be held and eventually returned to the sender if the addressee does not respond and provide proof that they are allowed to receive these drugs (e.g., a valid prescription). In practice, the number of packages containing prescription drugs sent to United States on a daily basis far exceeds CBP's capabilities to inspect them.] In the past, packages often passed through customs even if they were not sent from Canada or otherwise didn't meet the requirements of section 844 of 21 USC. Until recently, about 5 percent of prescription drug packages sent from Canada were being seized.
• DEA and FDA generally do not target consumers unless drugs are imported in large quantities (suggesting intent to distribute) or represent a perceived danger to public health (opiates, amphetamines).
• Rarely, drug importation laws are enforced on the local level. For example, in June 2005 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a number of customers of online pharmacies were arrested by local law enforcement officers and charged with possession of a controlled substance without prescription

Indian consumers

Online pharmacies in India have significantly increased due to growing E-commerce in India and little regulation of the industry.

There is "no regulatory control over drug advertisements on television or the Internet". Technology can help in meeting the healthcare objective of India. Indian government is planning to spend Rs 500 crore on computer literacy project for 50 lakh people over a period of 3 years. This would help Indian citizens to access government services in the fields of e-education, e-health and e-governance. Healthcare providers in India are also expected to spend $1.1 billion on IT products and services in 2014.

Pharmacy

The generic top-level domain (GTLD) .pharmacy was launched by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) in 2014 "to provide consumers around the world a means for identifying safe, legal, and ethical online pharmacies and related resources". A review by the NABP of more than 10,800 websites selling prescription drugs "found that nearly 97% do not follow pharmacy laws and standards established to protect the public health".

The impartiality of the domain has been questioned, because Eli Lilly and Company, Merck & Co., and Pfizer are the main contributors to the NABP application. Previously, that application was challenged by Public Citizen, Knowledge Ecology International, and the Canadian International Pharmacy Association.

There is no specific law to deal with online pharmacies in India but multiple laws govern online pharmacies in an indirect manner. The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, have guidelines on the sale of Schedule H and Schedule X drugs. These can be sold only on prescription and there are specific rules, including for labeling and bar coding .Online pharmacy is boon but when; if regulatory authorities control, track, and monitor sell drug sell via internet. It promote self-medication, drug abuse, drug addiction, drug resistance.