Dear Apollo Family, 

Online sale of medicines continue to hold our attention since they are  being closely monitored by the government and there is a proposal to  introduce new regulations to control the modalities of such sale. 

In a welcome move, as part of the G20 health working group meeting,  online pharmacies such as PharmEasy, Tata 1mg, Flipkart and Amazon  India, held a discussion with the health ministry officials. They were  asked to make a presentation to the government on the benefits of online  sales of drugs, which will aid the government in formulating the  regulations. 

The possibility of an absolute ban on online sales has been ruled out by  the health ministry, which is a huge relief. What is also comforting is that  the government is open to inputs from the industry to aid the decision  making process. A dialogue of this kind should hopefully ensure that the  regulatory framework the government proposes will measure up to ground  reality or virtual reality, in this case! 

To know more on this subject: 

http://bwhealthcareworld.businessworld.in/article/E-pharmacies-Hold Discussions-With-Govt-Consult-New-Regulation-Policy-On-Online-Sale Of-Meds/21-04-2023-473700 

In other news, while the world is moving closer to digitization and  reliance on AI, the legal community has protested against a “robot”  lawyer, which was all set to represent a client in an US courtroom! The  State Bar threatened the U.S based manufacturer with prison time. 

A whole new world is ready to open up!

Maimoona Badsha,

Group Legal Advisor.