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1 in 4 Net drugstores in Japan said ignoring pharmacist-advice rule+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 29_(Kyodo) _ Nearly one in four Japan-based Internet vendors of nonprescription drugs are selling medicines that require consultations with pharmacists prior to sale but without engaging in such consultation, according to results released Wednesday of a survey carried out by researchers.
The survey was conducted by Noriko Fukushima, a professor at Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy, and her assistant Hiroshi Maruoka.
Some 24 percent of 156 Net vendors surveyed are going against a nonbinding notice by the health ministry that limits Net sales of drugs to antiseptics, mouthwash and other products, according to the survey. Over-the-counter sale of drugs with stronger effects require consultation with pharmacists under the ministry rule.
Legislation is now before the Diet currently in session to revise the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law so that such non-consultation sales would be banned.
But an association of Net drugstores is calling on the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to relax regulations, saying they can provide adequate information to consumers.
Fukushima and Maruoka listed pharmaceutical products handled by the 156 vendors and classified them into three risk-based categories designated by a health ministry panel.
Of them, 37 of the vendors dealt in drugs in the highest risk category, or Group A, that requires consultations with pharmacists under the health ministry notice, according to the survey.
Four of the 37 were selling a gastrointestinal drug containing H2 blocker, a medicine for treating ulcers previously available only via prescription, and reported to have strong side effects.
Other drugs in this category included hair-growth drugs and impotence-treatment drugs, the researchers said.
Products in the second-highest risk group, or Group B, which have less intense effects but still require expert advice, were sold by 138 of the vendors, they said.
The ministry wants to ban Net sale of all the products in Group A and most of the medicines in Group B.
Fukushima, who made the presentation on the research at a meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan held Wednesday in Sendai, said, "Net sales have taken root. It is necessary to work out measures to ensure safety rather than simply regulating it."
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