Protest in Vizianagaram over online sale of medicines

The members of Andhra Pradesh Chemists and Druggists Association staged a protest at the Fort junction in Vizianagaram on Wednesday after a nationwide strike called by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), demanding stricter rules for online medicine sale.

Association’s Vizianagaram district president G. Srinivasa Rao and general secretary Motamarri Srinivasa Rao appealed the government to ban online sale of medicines, claiming that heavy discounts by corporate pharmacies are incurring huge losses for small and medium medical shops.

Besides staging a protest, the association members took up a bike rally to the Collector’s office. Mr. Motamarri Srinivasa Rao said that all the pharmacists closed the medical shops on Wednesday as part of the protest.

Speaking to media, the district-level association members said a few companies were providing medicines online after generating fake prescriptions to attract the patients and family members.

The association’s treasurer, V. Satish, said that the small pharmacies were incurring huge losses with the little margins given by bulk drug companies.