E-pharmacies have made our lives so much easier and convenient. With the innovative idea of ‘online medicine order’, one needs not to visit any brick-and-mortar medical store. Just place an order with a few clicks and the medicines will be delivered to your doorstep!
Although the concept of online medicine order is the next big thing, it comes with great precautions and preventive measures.
Some websites sell medicines cheaply without any advice from pharmacists or any other healthcare professionals; while some platforms are unregistered. So, buying from such places could be potentially unsafe or disastrous in some cases.
So, what to do? How to protect yourself from any kind of perilous situation?
“Prevention is better than cure”, and so this post will list a few things that you need to keep in mind while buying medicines online.
Let’s start!
General Precautions
- Check out the active ingredients of the medicines.
- Cross-check the details of the drugs, such as usage, doses, side effects, and warnings.
- Avoid accepting damaged packages or puffed-up medicine bottles.
- Say no to self-diagnosis and self-medication.
- Beware of the spam emails, calls, or messages offering cheap medicines.
- Always upload a valid prescription.
- Contact your doctor immediately if you are experiencing unexpected side effects.
Most Important Precautions
- Beware Of High Costs
One of the major reasons why people prefer online medicine orders is the lower cost. As there is no third party involved in the supply chain, online pharma stores give lucrative discounts, offers, and loyalty programs to their customers.
So, if any online store is selling you at brick-and-mortar prices, then avoid it before having any second thought.
- Compel For A Bill OR Receipt
The moment you will have a receipt or a bill in your hands, you will have some degree of accountability for the medicines sold by the store to you. So, no matter how much familiar or friendly you are with that online store owner, always ask for a bill.
- Make Sure For Safe Payment Methods
Always make sure that the entire process of online medicine orders is authentic. Look for the options like COD (Cash-On-Delivery) and return. If the store prompts its customers to pay online, then make sure it has incorporated safe payment gateways like e-wallets, debit cards, credit cards, etc. If anything seems fishy, alert yourself!
- Don’t Buy Illegal Medications
Check whether or not the online medical store is selling banned medicines. An authentic e-pharma store will never sell such drugs.
In India, medicines need to be CDSCO approved before they are available to the common people. So, avoid purchasing medicines that are not CDSCO approved and also avoid buying from the platforms that allow you to buy such medicines.
- Check Certificates& Legality Issues
Always choose online pharmacies that are legally certified by the PCI (Pharmacy Council of India). Avoid buying from websites that require no e-prescription for selling drugs.
Sometimes, it might become difficult to figure out which website or platform is registered and which is not. To help with this issue, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has launched an internet pharmacy logo scheme so that people can buy safe and genuine medicines online. So, always check for the logo before placing an order.
Stay alert, get genuine medicines delivered to your doorstep, and be safe and healthy!
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