In today's era, everything is going digital. Digitalization has been the highlight of 21st century. From buying clothes to buying groceries, online markets have become complete in a sense. There has hardly been any product which is not being sold online at this moment itself! And among those products are our very own pharmaceuticals. Yes, Online pharmacies have been a part of our online market for almost a decade now and they have come pretty far! Some of them are Netmeds, Practo & Medplusmart.

But how do they work? For prescription drugs, upload a valid and eligible prescriptions, with doctor's name and registration clearly visible along with the doctor's address with telephone number, Rx symbol, patient's name, name of the prescribed medicines with its strength and dosage and finally, the date of issue. If any of these are missing, the customer care executives will call the customer and ask them to send a complete and valid prescription. For OTC drugs, one can simply add the products to their cart and order them. Now, payment can be done by credit/debit cards, wallets, net banking or by cash on delivery methods and drugs will be delivered to them at their doorstep. This is how easy buying medicines has become!

And why are online pharmacies taking the place of traditional pharmacies? If one finds it physically difficult to make it to the pharmacy, live in a remote rural area, or have a busy schedule, online and mail-order pharmacies enable them to avoid travel and can save their time. Many online pharmacies also remind the customers when they can order a refill to help them maintain their regimen. Some online pharmacies provide useful information about medications and diseases as well as links to medical resources such as universities, government agencies, and health associations. Many people feel more comfortable purchasing their medication online, or simply want to speak to someone about prescriptions and their health online or over the phone rather than in person. However, to prevent the use of personal information for unauthorized purposes, make sure the pharmacy has an appropriate privacy policy. Online pharmacies also provide the consumers with cheaper medicines and health-care products. Many online pharmacies have a standard discount accompanied with festive and special discounts at specific conditions.

Convenient as it may be, it has its very own risks and disadvantages. To begin with, there are pharmacies which

are not licensed. So care has to be taken and research must be done while choosing an online pharmacy. The site may provide the consumer with false or incorrect data about the drug. Such sites may share or misuse your personal details, which may range from one's credit card details or their health problems. Some medications sold online:

1. Are fake
2. Have not been manufactured properly
3. Are too strong and may cause unwanted side effects
4. Are too weak and may not treat your health condition as expected
5. Have ingredients that may be dangerous to your health
6. Have expired or are out of date
7. Are not approved by the FDA and therefore have not been checked for safety and effectiveness
8. Are not safe to take with other medications or health products that you are using
9. Are not labeled, stored, or shipped correctly

Keeping in mind these problems, one must choose only the certified online pharmacies and must do their research well. The major ethical issue online pharmacies in India are facing is reducing the business of traditional pharmacies to a very high extent, leading to problems like loss and eventual unemployment. Traditional pharmacies in India cannot provide it's consumers with such high discounts and despite of the several advantages it provides to customers, a major chunk of their customers are attracted to online pharmacies.

So in a growing country like India, where the concept of online pharmacy has a tremendous potential for growth and is a boon for rural areas, the online pharmaceutical market is still in it's young days & even though there still are some major issues to be covered and brought to balance, the advantages it has makes the standards of living in India a notch better.

Amey Revdekar

T.Y.B.Pharm

Tags: MET Institute of Pharmacy