GN Singh, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has said e-commerce companies will not be allowed to sell prescription drugs for now. Singh said the government has already begun a consultation process which will eventually pave the way for consumers to buy their prescription drugs from e-tailers, but that's not before a proper system and regulations have been put in place.
CNBC-TV18's Rituparna Bhuyan caught up with Singh and started off by asking him on why the current regulations do not allow for the sale of online drugs.
Below is the edited transcript of GN Singh’s interview with CNBC-TV18's Rituparna Bhuyan
Q: Why is purchase of drugs not allowed online yet?
A: A patient's safety is of first importance and there is no regulatory mechanism as on date to allow any sales of medicines through the internet. So, we are in the process of developing the right tools, we have to ensure that the patient safety be 100 percent compliance upon whatever medicines are moving to the market. For that we are consulting with the various stakeholders including the consumers, the Druggists Chemists Association, the manufacturers and with the state regulators. We want to evolve a system so that we can address this important issue. This is a very important tool, so we don't want to deny that the patients who are going to have smarter tools for getting the medicine till it gets validated we are not going to allow them.
Q: So, as of now such portals will not be able to sell any medicines till your consultation is complete?
A: If they are not complying any part of the cosmetic rules they are not supposed to be and our state drug regulators, our central regulatory system we have already a system to keep a very close eye on such illegal activities if someone is doing it.
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