Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 3 - 9 [POLITICS]

Internet business pushes for online drug sales

The government has decided to lift the ban on sales of medicines on the Internet. Behind the decision lies the Internet industry’s business strategy.

No safety measures

Among about 11,400 non-prescription drugs, which are divided into three categories based on levels of risk for side effects, Japan currently allows online sales of the third category with the lowest risk (2,950 drugs). The latest deregulation will permit sales of almost all non-prescription drugs, including the other two categories with higher risks of side effects.

If the deregulation is implemented, “Consumers will be held responsible for choosing the products and any suffering associated with side effects,” said Fujiwara Hidenori, representing the Japan Pharmaceutical Association. In the government-sponsored review sessions on online drug sales, the association expressed its opposition to the deregulation contrary to its support by Internet businesses.

Fujiwara said that Internet business leaders are only concerned about how much they can sell. “Although we had 11 sessions, our discussions on how to maintain safety never reached an agreement, and no safety measures were introduced,” he added.

Prefectural governments are mainly responsible for monitoring the sales and advertisement of illegal medicines. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, however, assigns this huge task to only five workers. An official of the Tokyo government said, “We have to deal with numerous dealers including foreign-based ones. Once the ban is lifted, I wonder how much we can actually cover.”

Targeting public healthcare too

The deregulation was strongly called for by the Internet shopping giant “Rakuten”, which includes the online drug store “Kenko.com” under its umbrella. This online pharmacy once filed a lawsuit against the Health Ministry’s ordinance banning the sales of medicines on the Internet.

Rakuten CEO Mikitani Hiroshi is a member of the government’s Council for Industrial Competitiveness. He has continued to demand that the ban on online drug sales be lifted as “a symbol of deregulation”.

Mikitani also calls for the entry of e-commerce services into ethical pharmaceuticals as well as into the public healthcare system.

Fujiwara said, “The government should not make a decision on such a major issue affecting citizens’ health based only on Internet business leaders’ opinions. This is an affront to the very concept of democracy.”