Japan plans tighter scrutiny of Internet drug sales

Japan has pledged to step up surveillance of websites selling counterfeit medicines as it prepares to relax rules on Internet purchasing.

The Japanese government said last year it would make almost all non-prescription medicines available over the Internet after a ban - introduced in 2010 - was ruled illegal by the Tokyo High Court.

The only medicines that will continue to be restricted from online sale are a few considered to pose the greatest risk of side effects or have only recently been switched from prescription-only status. However, the policy has been criticised vigorously by traditional pharmacies and others who argue freeing up the market poses a safety risk to consumers.

Prescription-only medicines cannot legally be supplied over the internet in Japan as the country's law dictates that a physician must examine a patient before a script is written.  All pharmacies operating in the country need to be licensed and physically located in a Japanese prefecture.

Moreover, while there is a bit of flexibility for imported medicines - this only applies when a person is physically entering the country with drugs for personal use in their possession, so any website selling directly into Japan is technically a rogue online pharmacy.

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has said it will step up monitoring on Internet sites selling medicines after encountering a number of overseas sites - including online pharmacies in China, Hong Kong and Singapore - providing drugs directly to Japanese citizens.

It will also collaborate with the authorities where the offending sites are based to try to curtail their activities.

Just this week online monitoring and security specialist LegitScript said it had identified three China-based networks - collectively operating more than 60 websites - illegally selling healthcare products into Japan.

"Over the past two years, LegitScript has closed more than 400 illegal Japanese-language websites selling prescription medicine in a way that violates Japanese laws and regulations, and puts Japanese residents’ health and safety at risk," said LegitScript in a blog post last month.

The Japanese government has made a number of efforts to educate the public on the risks associated with buying counterfeit goods in recent years.


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