Ahmedabad: What do a former prime minister, former president, a Union minister, and a state health minister have in common? Nothing much, except that their names were allegedly used to generate fake prescriptions through AI to order medicines through online pharmacies. While this may sound ridiculous, chemist associations claim they did exactly this, and the medicines were still delivered, exposing the casual approach of some e-pharmacy platforms allegedly verifying prescriptions.Submitting proof of their ‘sting operation’ to the govt, chemists raised one question: If this was so easy, imagine what anyone with a smartphone could do?The chemists are clearly in no mood to mince words. “We generated AI prescriptions using names similar to Dr Manmohan Singh and former President R N Kovind. Earlier too, we ordered medicines in the name of Union minister Piyush Goyal. We even ordered medicines in the name of Gujarat health minister Praful Pansheriya,” said Jashvant Patel, president of the Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists Associations (FGSCDA).The point, Patel said, was to check whether online pharmacies were actually verifying prescriptions before dispatching medicines. “For years now, we have been highlighting how major regulatory gaps are allowing e-pharmacies and instant medicine delivery platforms to function without adequate oversight. Online pharmacies are delivering medicines based on outdated or even AI-generated prescriptions without verifying the medical practitioner’s data.“Many anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, and psychotropic medications that require a psychiatrist’s prescription are being easily delivered by online pharmacies. This is both illegal and harmful,” added Patel.Demanding strict rules for online pharmacies and pricing protection for small chemists, the associations are taking the fight national by staging a bandh on Wednesday. The All-India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), which represents nearly 12.4 lakh chemists, pharmacists and distributors, is backing the protest. In Gujarat alone, around 33,000 chemists are expected to join the bandh.The protest also reflects growing frustration among brick-and-mortar chemists, who argue that while traditional retailers operate under strict licensing and inspection rules, online medicine platforms continue to function in a regulatory grey zone. They highlight the absence of a comprehensive legal framework regarding prescription verification, medicine dispensing standards, and accountability for violations.Chemist associations have also opposed two govt notifications — GSR 220(E) and GSR 817(E) — alleging that the provisions effectively allowed online pharmacies to continue operations without sufficiently strong safeguards.Apart from safety concerns, retail chemists say aggressive online discounting is hurting small pharmacies struggling to compete with deep-pocketed digital platforms. Despite the bandh, the association said emergency medicine access will remain available to ensure patients are not inconvenienced.
