Spend Smart. Click for your medical fix

Tired of long queues and hopping from one chemist to another in search of the brand prescribed by your doctor?

Well, you can now buy medicines at the click of a mouse. How does it work?

The first step to buying medicines online is to sign up with the portal by providing details, such as email ID, name and mobile number as well as your prescription.

The same is verified by the portal and the prescribed medicine in accordance with the relevant dosage is then readied for purchase.

You cannot buy prescription drugs that are not mentioned in the prescription. However, you can add supplements, such as hygiene and nutritional products, to your shopping cart. Once this is done, you have to review your order and make the payment. Most portals offer cash on delivery (COD), besides payments using debit/credit card and internet banking. Besides convenience, you also save when you buy drugs online. The discounts for online purchases can be as high as 20 per cent on the maximum retail price (MRP).

For instance, Medplus, which also operates brick and mortar drug stores, offers 15 per cent discount on the MRP, while Mchemist offers a minimum discount of 15 per cent on prescription drugs.

Also, you can compare the prices of brands across portals before you make the purchase.

There are numerous portals and apps which facilitate online buying of medicines. There are two models here. One, portals/apps that act as a marketplace for offline medical stores. They don’t stock medicines but route your order to a government-approved pharmacy, which fulfils the order. Some instances are Mchemist, Netmeds.com, merapharmacy.com and medidart.com .

The other model is that of large national pharmacy chains that facilitate online purchases through their own portals/apps. Retail chains, such as Medplus, fall in this category.

In India, pharmacies that sell prescription drugs are regulated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 and have to ensure strict compliance with the law. Even as many of these portals have been in operation for a while now, the existing Indian drug policies have not been explicit about the legal aspect of selling prescription drugs online.

The Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945 does not distinguish between sale of drugs by brick and mortar pharmacies and those on the internet.

In the recent past, a few state drug regulators had banned some of these portals from continuing online sales on complaints filed by a few trade bodies citing violation of some of the provisions under the Act.

Under the Act, sale of prescription drugs without a valid prescription from a medical practitioner is illegal and punishable. That said, most of these marketplace portals require you to upload the original prescription even at the time of signing up.

While it is convenient to buy online, not all drugs are permitted to be sold online. For instance, medicines classified under Schedule X, such as sleeping pills and drugs falling under narcotics, MTP kits (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) or erectile dysfunction medicines are not sold online.

Ordering medicines online will work best if you have stocks adequate to sustain you for a day or two. Given the process involved, buying medicines online may not be viable during emergencies.

While buying online is more convenient to you and helps you save money, it is better to go with the established online portals to make sure that you are getting genuine drugs.

Make it a point to check the portal’s credentials before placing an order.

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