Pharmacy chains require blocking Ozon.ru for the sale of pills
Since October 2018, the online store Ozon.ru began the remote sale of drugs without a prescription. Such actions have displeased pharmaceutical companies that own pharmacy chains. They asked Roskomnadzor to check on the site Ozon.ru for compliance with current legislation, and in case of violation, to make Ozon.ru in the unified register of prohibited information, that is, to block it.
The Union of Professional Pharmaceutical Organizations (SPFO) unites about 30 pharmaceutical companies, including the Rigla, Erkafarm and Neofarm pharmacy chains. The SPFO also sent relevant appeals to the Moscow Prosecutor's Office, Roszdravnadzor and Rospotrebnadzor, copies of the letter are available to the editors of Kommersant.
Currently, the online sale of medicines is banned by government decree No. 612 of September 27, 2007, as well as presidential decree No. 179 of February 22, 1992, said the SPFO.
Ozon.ru started trading in violation of the law, according to pharmacy chains. They claim that Ozon.ru does not have information about the quality of the goods sold, compliance with storage conditions and other licensing requirements, including the delivery process. Thus, the rights of consumers are violated. It is not known whether the online store has a license for pharmaceutical activity.
Neofarm CEO Yevgeny Nifantyev said that he personally ordered on Ozon.ru three drugs - the Supradin vitamins, the antipyretic Nurofen and Vigantol (vitamin D3), having paid for them on the website. The courier brought the order the next day.
SPFO asks to bring the perpetrators to administrative responsibility, and block the site.
The representative of Ozon.ru, Maria Zaikina, explained that the rules for the sale of goods by remote means only prohibit online sale of medicines if the possibility of familiarization with the product is excluded. Ozon has already received two licenses for pharmaceutical activity and has opened offline pharmacies in Moscow and Tver, where pharmacists work and all rules of storage and distribution of medicines are observed. A customer can place an order on the website and pick it up at one of these pharmacies. “Or, if the client has a temperature of 39 or a leg is broken and there is no possibility to pick up the order on his own, he can instruct the courier to familiarize himself with the goods and deliver over-the-counter drugs to a convenient address,” explained Zaikina. The conclusion of the contract of assignment in this case is not against the law.
At the end of 2017, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill developed by the Ministry of Health, legalizing online trade in non-prescription drugs, but after that the adoption of the bill stalled due to objections from the pharmacy community.
According to independent lawyers, the grounds for pre-trial blocking of Ozon.ru are not enough. In extreme cases, Roskomnadzor can only issue an order to stop the online sale of drugs.
The Union of Professional Pharmaceutical Organizations (SPFO) unites about 30 pharmaceutical companies, including the Rigla, Erkafarm and Neofarm pharmacy chains. The SPFO also sent relevant appeals to the Moscow Prosecutor's Office, Roszdravnadzor and Rospotrebnadzor, copies of the letter are available to the editors of Kommersant.
Currently, the online sale of medicines is banned by government decree No. 612 of September 27, 2007, as well as presidential decree No. 179 of February 22, 1992, said the SPFO.
Ozon.ru started trading in violation of the law, according to pharmacy chains. They claim that Ozon.ru does not have information about the quality of the goods sold, compliance with storage conditions and other licensing requirements, including the delivery process. Thus, the rights of consumers are violated. It is not known whether the online store has a license for pharmaceutical activity.
Neofarm CEO Yevgeny Nifantyev said that he personally ordered on Ozon.ru three drugs - the Supradin vitamins, the antipyretic Nurofen and Vigantol (vitamin D3), having paid for them on the website. The courier brought the order the next day.
SPFO asks to bring the perpetrators to administrative responsibility, and block the site.
The representative of Ozon.ru, Maria Zaikina, explained that the rules for the sale of goods by remote means only prohibit online sale of medicines if the possibility of familiarization with the product is excluded. Ozon has already received two licenses for pharmaceutical activity and has opened offline pharmacies in Moscow and Tver, where pharmacists work and all rules of storage and distribution of medicines are observed. A customer can place an order on the website and pick it up at one of these pharmacies. “Or, if the client has a temperature of 39 or a leg is broken and there is no possibility to pick up the order on his own, he can instruct the courier to familiarize himself with the goods and deliver over-the-counter drugs to a convenient address,” explained Zaikina. The conclusion of the contract of assignment in this case is not against the law.
At the end of 2017, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill developed by the Ministry of Health, legalizing online trade in non-prescription drugs, but after that the adoption of the bill stalled due to objections from the pharmacy community.
According to independent lawyers, the grounds for pre-trial blocking of Ozon.ru are not enough. In extreme cases, Roskomnadzor can only issue an order to stop the online sale of drugs.