INTERNET PHARMACY AS A NEW FORM OF DRUG SALES

The article discusses the main problems of legalization and development of online sales of medicines in the Russian Federation. The content of the term “Internet pharmacy” and the process of transition from the format of an online showcase to the activity of an Internet pharmacy with the right to carry out an act of purchase and sale of medicinal products without strict binding to a stationary pharmacy organization are revealed. The prerequisites for the growth of the population’s demand for online drug trade in the context of the development of the digital economy and the COVID-19 pandemic are identified. The differences in the experience of foreign countries and in the practice of our country on the introduction of distance selling of pharmacy assortment are revealed. An analysis of the organization of online drug trade in the US and EU countries, where the rapid growth of this market segment has been observed for a long time, made it possible to identify factors enabling such a situation in Russia. The factors that are attractive to customers (convenience and speed of purchase, the ability to receive prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription, lower price of goods, etc.) and the disadvantages of pharmaceutical Internet trade (drug abuse, self-administration of drugs not prescribed by a doctor, the possibility of counterfeiting products, etc.) are highlighted. The article substantiates the need for amendments to the existing domestic regulatory framework for online trading in pharmaceuticals, and identifies areas where rapid innovation is needed. The analysis made it possible to identify three main groups of problems that need to be taken into account when developing amendments to the regulatory framework. The first group includes the problems of drug counterfeiting, an increase in the number of unscrupulous suppliers and unverified manufacturers, and an increase in the number of fraudulent websites. The second group of problems is associated with home delivery of medicines. The third group includes problems that are a special area of state regulation (licensing of online pharmacies, permitting online sales of prescription drugs, development of a unified drug monitoring and labeling system, etc.).

online pharmacy, distance selling of medicines, pharmacy business, licensing, online trade of prescription drugs, counterfeiting, epidemic situation, delivery, consumers.

Turchenkova E. S., Kovalenko N. V. Internet pharmacy as a new form of drug sales. Business. Education. Law, 2021, no. 1, pp. 204—210. DOI: 10.25683/VOLBI.2021.54.160.