Selling drugs online: How to manage?

The revised Law on Pharmacy is about to be approved at the National Assembly session. One of the new points of the law that many people and businesses are interested in is the regulation on online drug sales.

Pharmacies advertise how to order medicine online via app or phone - Photo: TTD

How to manage online drug sales, non-prescription drug sales and ensure drug quality?

Hard to stay out of online trends

Mr. Nguyen Huu Trong, General Secretary of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, said that countries around the world and in the region have been selling medicine online for many years. For example, e-commerce platforms or world-famous applications such as Amazon (global), Uber (a transportation company that also sells medicine) in the US, China has the Wedoctor application, India has 3-5 applications. All of these applications were launched and deployed in life since 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic because the need to buy medicine online did not only arise from the pandemic. In many countries, especially the US and Europe, patients are allowed to post their own prescriptions online for buying and selling and are responsible for their prescriptions, without monitoring the origin of the prescription for each transaction. It mainly depends on honesty, respect for the law and understanding of one's own health, of each patient. In Vietnam, online medicine sales started in 2017-2018 and have grown stronger. There are many forms of disguise for selling drugs online to circumvent the law and erase traces. For example, pharmacy chains are allowing the purchase and selection of drugs on the website of that pharmacy chain. "If the prescription is a prescription drug, they will call the customer to transact directly and deliver the drug. Some other mobile applications... when the customer chooses a drug, they will introduce the customer to a pharmacy and the pharmacy will call to consult and then assign a motorbike taxi to deliver the drug if the customer wants to buy and many other forms. According to estimates, the online drug market in Vietnam by 2024 will reach about 5 - 8% of the drug sales market share and is growing continuously," Mr. Trong cited. Mr. Le Viet Dung, deputy director of the Department of Drug Administration ( Ministry of Health ), admitted that it is difficult for drug trading to be outside the trend of online trading, so when amending the Pharmacy Law this time, the Ministry of Health proposed regulations related to online business methods. "However, drugs are special goods that directly affect users. Therefore, online trading needs a legal framework to strengthen management to ensure safety and effectiveness for users," said Mr. Dung.

People line up to buy medicine at a hospital pharmacy in Hanoi - Photo: NAM TRAN

Specific regulations, supervision and sanctions

From the above proposal, Mr. Le Viet Dung added that this is a form of business parallel to direct sales and must comply with certain regulations. "For example, it is necessary to ensure that the drugs have a clear origin, are safe for people, and have human resources to guide people on how to use the drugs, and have a license to operate. At the same time, the draft also limits prescription drugs, drugs with restricted retail sales... that are not allowed to be sold online. These pharmacies are only allowed to sell non-prescription drugs," Mr. Dung stated. Mr. Nguyen Huu Trong emphasized that the legalization and management of online drug sales must be implemented immediately so that state management agencies can truly manage these activities to avoid illegal trading, which authorities do not know about or are extremely difficult to catch and detect. When the law is in place, the Ministry of Health will coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to inspect, monitor and recognize the announcement of applications and e-commerce platforms that meet management regulations. "Many pharmacists believe that in order to manage online drug sales well, pharmacies must first register to sell drugs online, from which the authorities can manage these pharmacies. In addition, online drug sales need to follow a roadmap, starting with a certain group of drugs to manage well, then gradually expanding to the next groups of drugs," Mr. Trong suggested. Doctor Nguyen Huy Hoang, Vietnam - Russia High Pressure Oxygen Center ( Ministry of National Defense ), also said that first, it is necessary to manage drug businesses on e-commerce platforms. This requires the cooperation of the Drug Administration Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade... Next, it is necessary to ensure the quality of drugs, transporting drugs from sellers to buyers. "It is especially necessary to raise people's awareness when using drugs. Whether buying directly or buying drugs online, people need to understand whether the drug is a prescription drug or not. It is necessary to require guaranteed delivery, choosing reputable establishments to buy from," Mr. Hoang recommended.

Where the topic is, there will be a way to do it.

Sharing about the management of online drug sales, Ms. Tran Thi Huyen, head of FPT Retail's legal department, quoted the opinion of Ms. Le Thi Ha (head of e-commerce management department, Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade ) in a recent workshop organized by Tuoi Tre newspaper: Technology allows everything, no matter where the problem is "put in the headline", we will have a way to do it. "We really hope that management agencies will announce clear regulations on conditions, so that if drug suppliers meet the requirements, they will be able to expand their supply scope through electronic applications," Ms. Huyen said. She also suggested that management agencies publicly and transparently announce the list of qualified suppliers on the health sector's information portals so that people can easily access and choose reputable, reliable and convenient drug purchasing addresses. In response to many opinions that the sale of prescription drugs at pharmacies is currently not yet controlled, and if drugs are sold online it will be even more difficult to control, Ms. Huyen said that in fact, selling drugs through the electronic environment, if all of the above solutions are met, is safer and more effective than buying drugs at pharmacies today. "In reality, many patients cannot go directly to the pharmacy to buy, but ask their family members to bring the prescription to buy. If done through the electronic environment, it will be much more transparent and easier for authorities to control, such as the consultation content can be recorded, the drug transportation can be tracked in detail, the delivery of drugs to patients can be compared through images, the nurse can sign to confirm the quantity, quality and keep evidence in the electronic environment for retrieval several months later, which is still feasible. Especially if there is an unexpected incident, tracing the route of the goods will be much simpler and more accurate," Ms. Huyen said.

Presented by: T.DAT

That is the number of e-commerce websites selling goods approved by the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy (Ministry of Industry and Trade), of which 900 websites have letters starting with "drug" or "pharma". Obviously, the need to buy and sell drugs online is there.

Delegate TRAN THI NHI HA (Deputy Head of the People's Aspirations Committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee):

There needs to be a list of non-prescription drugs soon.

Most countries have regulations that only allow the sale of non-prescription drugs online, or even prohibit it. However, selling drugs online is a business method that is very suitable for the trend, regulating this content in the draft law, with specific conditions, is necessary and regulating drugs sold retailed by e-commerce as non-prescription drugs is appropriate. Currently, the draft stipulates that drugs sold wholesale by e-commerce include prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs and drug ingredients... This causes confusion in floor transactions and will be very difficult to manage, especially with antibiotic drug ingredients. Therefore, in my opinion, the draft needs to be amended to only sell non-prescription drugs. The Ministry of Health must issue a list of non-prescription drugs sold on e-commerce and these drugs must be licensed for circulation in Vietnam, ensuring quality. E-commerce businesses must also have full pharmaceutical business certificates... Authorities also need to regularly inspect and examine to ensure that regulations are properly implemented.

Each prescription must have a code, QR code

Pharmacists dispense prescriptions at a hospital pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: X.MAI

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, delegate Pham Trong Nghia, a full-time member of the National Assembly's Social Committee (the agency in charge of the review), said that the draft Law on Pharmacy (amended) currently stipulates that only non-prescription drugs are allowed to be sold online. In the case of medical isolation when there is an infectious disease in group A, patients are allowed to buy prescription drugs. Regarding the suggestion to expand the online sale of prescription drugs to suit online and remote medical examination and treatment, Mr. Nghia said that if such a regulation is desired, there must be very good and controllable prescription data. However, in reality, this data system is not yet guaranteed, and further careful assessments are needed because with our current infrastructure, the risk of negative impacts is greater than the good. "Therefore, online sales of prescription drugs are not allowed, even when patients examine and treat patients online. Everything here is aimed at controlling the quality of drugs well with the ultimate goal of serving patients best," Mr. Nghia shared. Mr. Nghia added that international experience shows that many countries also allow people to buy prescription drugs online but require a complete prescription database. "In the future, when there is a complete prescription database, each prescription will have a code, QR code and when buying medicine online, the patient scans the prescription and the pharmacy has the right to access the prescription data, identifying the correct patient who needs this medicine. At that time, it is possible to allow the online sale of prescription drugs," Mr. Nghia emphasized. Meanwhile, delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu, director of Hanoi Medical University Hospital, said he completely agrees with the sale of drugs through electronic transactions as in the bill, because it is currently happening. Drugs sold through e-commerce must include non-prescription drugs (OTC) and prescription drugs, but must be prescribed by medical facilities on the electronic prescription system, electronic medical examination books and electronic medical records. Pharmacies that sell online must ensure that they meet the standards issued by the Ministry of Health and are appraised and licensed. They should start testing right away at hospital pharmacies that have fully implemented electronic medical records. "After the Law on Pharmacy (amended) is passed, if the Ministry of Health has a guiding circular, hospitals will certainly be able to implement it, creating favorable conditions for people as well as limiting the current chaotic situation. On the contrary, if it cannot be managed, it will be banned, causing many people to violate the law when the law comes into effect," said Mr. Hieu.

How did Singapore and China do with prescription drugs?

* Singapore: The online prescription drug sales process is closely monitored by the Singapore Health Sciences Authority. According to the Health Products Act, which is supervised by the Singapore Ministry of Health, only registered pharmacies and licensed pharmacists are allowed to sell prescription drugs both in person and online. Singapore law requires that online prescriptions must be as reputable as in-person prescriptions. Specifically, prescriptions must have an electronic signature from a licensed pharmacy to authenticate the identity of the pharmacist/prescribing physician. In addition, all pharmacies that sell online must store medical records securely according to the law, to limit the leakage of personal information and drug records. The Singapore government stipulates that each online prescription can only be used once. In addition, prescriptions cannot be edited or interfered with in any way, unless performed by a qualified medical practitioner. Not only that, all online prescriptions must be properly packaged, away from weather factors that affect the product, as well as ensuring a long enough shelf life to maintain the quality when it reaches the patient. * China: In 2022, China issued new regulations in the current Pharmaceutical Management Law to monitor the sale of drugs remotely, as well as create a premise for domestic pharmaceutical enterprises to expand distribution channels through online sales. This regulation officially took effect from December 1, 2022. Previously, China had strict regulations on the sale of drugs via the Internet. This country used to absolutely prohibit the sale of prescription drugs online. However, over time, the Pharmaceutical Management Law gradually relaxed regulations on the sale of drugs through online channels. Regarding the management process of drug trading activities, online drug businesses and establishments can sell prescription drugs, however, before prescription drugs are sold through online channels, they must ensure the authenticity and reliability of each type of drug, and the identity of the buyer and seller must be verified. Not only that, online drug retailers must sign an agreement with the online prescription provider and the prescription drug distributor strictly according to current regulations, as well as mark the prescriptions that have been transacted to avoid buyers reusing old prescriptions. In addition, China allows buyers to use copies of prescriptions to buy drugs on online platforms, on the condition that they commit not to reuse the prescriptions.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ban-thuoc-online-quan-ly-ra-sao-20241023083816427.htm