The panic created by the spread of swine flu has led to mushrooming of dubious websites claiming to sell the Tamiflu drug, thereby circumventing the official ban on retail sales of the drug.
As per the government regulation, Tamiflu is not supposed to be available as an over-the-counter drug and can only be retailed upon a medical prescription.
The websites, which include buydrugs.com, China.org.cn, med4health. biz, firstwebpharmacy.com, are reportedly selling either the branded or generic versions of Tamiflu that could cost $4 to $12 per pill (75 mg) excluding of shipping charges. Some of them are even offering bundled schemes with other online popular products like Viagra. Most of the sites accept payment through credit cards and many of them offer a range of other payment options.
Alarmed at the development and the potential harm it could have, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has alerted the port authorities to tighten the scrutiny on possible illegal imports as a result of orders placed on the Internet.
An official DCGI memorandum said: ?There is a possibility that some of the importer may be procuring this product (Tamiflu) through Internet, courier, speed-post from outside India. Therefore, it is directed (to) you to keep a proper vigil on import of the subject products ordered through Internet, imported by courier/ speed-post and delivered to consumers for personal use ?.
The DCGI has asked the port offices to immediately inform its office in case such an event is detected.
The fear of DCGI arose from the sporadic instances of chemists and pharmacies stocking Tamiflu and selling the swine flu drug at prices much higher than the real cost.
Few days ago, the World Health Oragnisation (WHO) also asked people the world over to refrain from buying Tamiflu over the Internet, even in countries where the retail sale of the anti-viral is perfectly legal. WHO?s fear stems from the fact that a large part of these drugs could be counterfeit and spurious. A UK-based organisation had in a study estimated that around 50% of the Viagra sold online is either counterfeit or spurious.
Meanwhile, the courier companies that form a part of the supply chain of delivery point out that they do not shoulder the responsibility for the contents that are sent.
Although it is not possible to transport such parcels of Tamiflu openly, if a sender from abroad decides to make a false declaration, the onus is not on the courier companies but the sender who signs the declaration with the second liability is on the receiver. ?The onus of truthful declaration of goods contained in a packet is on the sender. So, it is possible that the sender ships a packet containing Tamiflu to India by not declaring the exact content.
However, we are not held liable in that case,? said a senior executive in the international operation management team of a leading courier firm.
Agreed an official from Gati, which is one of the largest domestic courier service players. ?We work on the principle that the exporter?s word on the product specification is right.
That is why our official papers read ?is said to contain? instead of just ?contain?. In case of any objections raised during custom clearance, it would be the sender and the consignee who would be questioned first.? The websites are also offering the option of international mails, registered and unregistered for shipping the drug.
