The State Duma has passed amendments in the third reading that include provisions for online sales of prescription drugs. Pharmacies will be able to sell prescription drugs online, but only by government decision and “in conditions of an emergency situation and/or the threat of spreading a dangerous disease to others”.
A fierce battle has broken out in the State Duma over the introduction of remote sales of prescription drugs – an issue that has become particularly relevant against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. In the lower house health committee, they wanted to allow home delivery of prescription drugs during the pandemic. Pharmacy chains opposed the delivery of prescription drugs by regular couriers, while Internet giants and patient advocates suggested legalizing it.
The bill allowing the online sale of non-prescription drugs with home delivery was supposed to be passed on March 19. But on March 17, President Vladimir Putin issued a decree legalizing such trade, prompting Duma deputies to again amend the law to allow the remote sale of prescription drugs.
Earlier, the Russian service of the BBC had copies of two versions of the draft law text, the authenticity of the documents was confirmed by a source in the State Duma. According to the law, only pharmacy organizations with a license and permission for pharmaceutical activities will be able to deliver medicines to the home. The government will establish the procedure for granting the license. It will continue to be prohibited to sell narcotic, psychotropic and alcoholic drugs with an ethanol content of more than 25% by mail order.
In the final version of the law, obtained by the BBC, the supply of prescription drugs has been restored in a reduced form. It is planned to legalize it only in emergency situations and during the threat of a pandemic. In this case, the government is entitled to establish “temporary rules” for trade and delivery. On March 31, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the State Duma passed a bill expanding the powers of the Russian government and allowing it to introduce a state of emergency. Online sales of medicines in Russia are prohibited until the adoption of the relevant legislation: websites providing information about the trade of such goods run the risk of being blocked.
The draft law on online sales of over-the-counter drugs was adopted by the State Duma in the first reading in 2017, but then its final approval was delayed. In early 2019, President Vladimir Putin urged State Duma deputies to speed up its adoption. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this process.
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“It was originally planned to legalize the remote sale and delivery of prescription drugs to homes from January 1, 2022, when labeling and electronic prescriptions will be in place,” said Alexander Petrov, a member of the State Duma Health Committee, according to BBC. “But the coronavirus situation intervened, and tomorrow we will introduce such an amendment for emergency cases,” he explained. “After the pandemic, we in the State Duma will review the law enforcement practice, and [we] will make a decision regarding the situation – whether to continue such sales,” Petrov clarified.
According to him, many deputies are against this decision due to possible risks associated with who and how the drugs will be delivered. Asked by the BBC what the United Russia faction thinks, the deputy replied: “There is no time for factions, each deputy has his own opinion”. According to him, a decision will be made during the night. The deputy refused to comment on the position of the committee. “Everything is in agreement. You will find out tomorrow,” he told the BBC late in the evening.
In the final version of the law, it is stated that the condition of distance selling is applicable only during the state of emergency “up to and including December 31, 2020”. Therefore, starting from 2021, the online sale of prescription medicines should be implemented on a permanent basis.
Pharmacy chains are opposed to the remote sale of prescription drugs. It is still unclear whether pharmacists with special training or regular couriers will make the deliveries. The networks insist that it should be pharmacists who deliver the drugs, as they know the conditions of their storage and use. The Chairman of the Coordinating Council of the Russian Association of Pharmacy Chains, Evgeny Nifantyev, assured the Russian Service of the BBC that there are volunteer centers during the pandemic and there are no problems with the availability of medicines. According to Nifantyev, if mail-order sales are introduced, they should be carried out only through pharmacies, and the deliveries should be made by people with special medical or pharmaceutical training.
“Online retailers want to push through a law that would allow taxi drivers and green and yellow people to freely transport medicines. We are a small but proud industry, while they are a big industry with lobbying power,” he says. A simple courier, Nifantyev believes, should have a narrow list of medicines that definitely won’t harm anyone. Drug delivery is profitable for large Internet retailers.
Last June, the Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC), which includes Rambler, Mail.ru Group, and Ozon.ru, asked State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin to soften the requirements of the draft law on distance selling of medicines. They suggested legalizing online trade in prescription drugs and allowing delivery by regular couriers, rather than exclusively by pharmacists.
Yuri Zhulev, co-chairman of the All-Russian Union of Patients (VSPP), also advocates legalizing the supply of prescription drugs. During the pandemic, “the majority of the population was in a situation similar to that of people with disabilities – for them the pandemic is an everyday event,” he told the BBC. Only narcotic psychotropic and alcoholic drugs can be excluded from supply, according to VSP. Illegal sale of drugs is taking place in the country and it needs to be legalized and brought under strict control, including the introduction of full-fledged pharmacy licenses, noted Zhulev. He is confident that there is nothing stopping pharmacies from creating an online store. According to him, in the version of the bill that he is familiar with, the deputies proposed a special list of prescription drugs that will be allowed for distance trading. “This is a compromise step that we support,” he explained.
In late March, the All-Russia Union of Patients asked Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to ensure the delivery of discounted medicines to chronically ill patients at home. The Union suggested that pharmaceutical networks, as well as medical organizations, delivery services and volunteers, be responsible for the delivery of medical supplies.