Japan On-Line Drug Sales Reform Meets Special-Interest Resistance
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
Japan's government has found itself at loggerheads with the health-care industry, drugstore owners and its own health ministry as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tries to deregulate on-line OTC drug sales.
Japan's government has found itself at loggerheads with the health-care industry, drugstore owners and its own health ministry as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tries to deregulate on-line OTC drug sales. The ministry is resisting an effort by the government's Council for Regulatory Reform to liberalize such sales to improve access to the medicines. The ministry argues that safety concerns require regulations be maintained for certain products, and it has the support of physicians and pharmacists whose incomes would be adversely affected. (Click here for more - a subscription may be required
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"Vested Interests Stifle Reform In Name Of Safety" - Nikkei (Japan) (9/17/2013)