Thousands of pharmacies in Tamil Nadu to be shut on October 14

Chennai: Over 40,000 pharmacies in Tamil Nadu, including 5,000 in Chennai district, will remain closed on Oct. 14 as part of a one-day nation-wide strike called by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists demanding a ban on illegal sale of medicines online.

Permitting online sales of drugs would only endanger the public health and their safety. Further there was also a risk to the quality of the medicines as several life-saving drugs and vaccines had to be compulsorily kept in cold storage.

“While booking medicines on the net, one is not sure whether all rules are followed in keeping these medicines in cold storage as mandated under the Act,” according to T. Natarajan, General Secretary of Chennai District Chemists and Druggists Association (CDCDA), an affiliate of the Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association. He claimed that several internet-based portals were illegally selling medicines to the public in blatant violation of the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules, 1940.

Such online sales would also affect the livelihood of eight lakh chemists across India, besides 40 lakh employees and 1.5 crore members who are dependent on the pharma trade. The one-day strike is to demand a total ban on illegal sale of medicines online.

A major complaint of the association is that it was dangerous to sell medicines without any prescriptions and that several online pharmacies were supplying medicines without confirming the authenticity of prescription and patients. There was also a danger of spurious and banned drugs penetrating the online market.