The differences in the regulation of internet medicine sales between European countries currently makes it impossible to develop an EU-specific pharmaceutical internet sales and marketing strategy. There is little doubt that increasing internet penetration, greater consumer involvement in health purchasing decisions and government-driven cost containment initiatives will drive the growth of e-pharmacies. This paper reviews the current state and future evolution of pharmaceutical e-commerce. In the light of recent decisions by EU institutions, we can expect this market to evolve, but unfortunately many countries and interest groups stand in the way of a rapid growth of this sector.
James Dudley Management, Ltd (2002) ‘Time for the European OTC Industry to Plan Strategies to meet Major Changes to Europe's Distribution Channel Networks’, 21st January, 4.
2.
The Economist (2004) ‘Estimated total cut-prices prescription drug sales Canada-USA $700 million in 2003’, E-commerce review, 15–21st May, 3.
Council of Europe (2002) ‘Partial agreement in the social and public health field. Selling and advertising of medicines on the internet’, Prepared by the Committee of Experts on Pharmaceutical Questions, Strasbourg, 13th November.
5.
Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market ('Directive on electronic commerce') and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts: Statement by the Council and the Parliament re Article 6 (1): Statement by the Commission re Article 3 (1), first indent.
Arzneimittelgesetz (1998) ‘German Law of Medicines’, 7th September (BGBI.1998 I, 2649).
10.
Heilmittelwerbegesetz (1994) ‘German Law of Advertising of Medicines’, 19th October (BGBI.1994 I, 3068).
11.
Consolidated version of the treaty establishing the European Community (2002) Official Journal C 325, 24th December, Article 28: ‘Quantitative restrictions on imports and all measures having equivalent effect shall be prohibited between Member States’; Article 30: ‘The provisions of Articles 28 and 29 shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants; the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value; or the protection of industrial and commercial property. Such prohibitions or restrictions shall not, however, constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States’.
12.
German Law of Medicines (1998) op. cit..
13.
German Law of Advertising of Medicines (1994) op. cit..
14.
Consolidated version of the treaty establishing the European Community (2002) op. cit..
15.
Conclusions of the Attorney General (2003) Ms Christine Stix-Hackl of 11th March 2003, in Case C-322/01, Deutscher Apothekerverband against 0800 DocMorris NV..
16.
Court of First Instance of the European Communities (2003) 11th December 2003 in Case C-322/01, (Articles 28 EC and 30 EC — Directives 92/28/EEC and 2000/31/EC — National legislation restricting internet sales of medicinal products for human use by pharmacies established in another Member State — Doctor's prescription required for supply — Prohibition on advertising the sale of medicinal products by mail order).
17.
COM (2004) 108 ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions’, Europe 2005 Mid-term Review, http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2004/com2004_0108en01.pdf.
18.
COM (2002) 263 ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council, The European Parliament, The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions’, eEurope 2005: An information Society for All — An Action Plan to be presented in view of the Sevilla European Council, 21/22nd June, 2002. http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2002/com2002_0263en01.pdf.
COM (2002) 667 ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council, The European Parliament, The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions’, eEurope 2002: Quality Criteria for Web Sites Related to Health.http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2002/com2002_0667en01.pdf.
21.
The Health On the Net Foundation (HON), created in 1995, is a not-for-profit International Swiss Organisation. Its mission is to guide lay persons or non-medical users and medical practitioners to useful and reliable online medical and health information. The major sponsors of Health On the Net Foundation are the State of Geneva, Geneva University Hospital, the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, and Sun Microsystems. http://www.hon.ch.
22.
MedCERTAIN (MedPICS Certification and Rating of Trustworthy Health Information on the Net), a joint project of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, the ILRT and FINOHTA co-funded under the European Union's (EU) ‘Action Plan for safer use of the Internet’, from 5/2000 until 02/2002, established a fully functional demonstrator for a self- and third-party rating system enabling consumers and professionals to positively identify and select high quality information. http://www.medcertain.org.
23.
MedCIRCLE consists of a consortium of three European health portals in Spain, France, and Germany, which are already active in the field of rating/evaluating/accrediting health websites within the MedCERTAIN project. http://www.medcircle.org.
24.
QMIC (Quality in Medical Information and Communication) is based on a structured self-certification system with external reference. It was developed by TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research) on the advice of the Dutch Public Health and healthcare Council (RvZ). www.health.tno.nl/en/news/qmic_uk.pdf.
