As the pace of life accelerates, many friends around me have begun to try to buy medicine online.
A few days ago, a colleague asked me, saying that it is really convenient to buy medicine online now, but I still feel a little uneasy, especially on large platforms such as Ali Health Pharmacy. Are the medicines on it genuine?
This question is actually quite representative, and many people have the same doubts.
I deliberately spent time researching its qualifications, and also read the real reviews given by many buyers. Today I will talk to you in detail about this matter.
First look at the qualifications. Whether you have a "certificate" is very important.
If any pharmacy operating on the Internet does not have formal qualifications granted by the state, then there is basically no need to consider it.
I went to the official website of the State Food and Drug Administration to inquire. In fact, Ali Health Pharmacy has an "Internet Drug Trading License", an "Internet Drug Information Service Qualification Certificate", and it also holds a "Medical Device Business License".
These three certificates cannot be obtained casually. The review is quite strict. There are hard requirements for the company's warehousing, there are also hard requirements for the company's logistics, and there are also hard requirements for the company's information system.
In other words, it is the same as a regular offline pharmacy and is "certified to work".
Certificates alone are not enough. I also pay attention to the number of brands it cooperates with. As of September 2019, it has reached cooperation with nearly 3,000 brands, covering more than 60,000 products in 22 countries and regions.
If a large platform of this size dares to sell fake medicines, the price will be much higher than that of a small workshop.
Let’s talk about the real thing, the true identity of a box of Chinese patent medicines
Just talking about qualifications may be a bit false, let's just take a medicine and dismantle it.
I casually searched for a common Chinese patent medicine on the platform—— “Big hawthorn granules” .
Click on the details page and take a look. The manufacturer is Hunan Sanjin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which is a regular pharmaceutical company.
Looking at the picture of the packaging box again, the OTC logo, which is an over-the-counter drug, is clearly printed on it, and the national drug approval number is also printed on it.
For example, the "ID number" of medicines is the national drug approval number. Each box of medicine can be traced back to the production batch number, and circulation records can be found.
This shows that if you compare the box of large hawthorn granules you bought at Ali Health Pharmacy with the one purchased at Laobaidian Pharmacy downstairs, there is no difference in the production line to the packaging process.
I deliberately compared the batch numbers of the same medicine in offline pharmacies, and they were indeed consistent.
So to put it this way, at least in terms of the source of drugs, they follow the national standard process and are not items of unknown origin.
What do buyers say? Real feedback from monthly sales of more than 700 pieces.
The qualifications and manufacturer are reliable, but what do people who actually buy them say?
At that time, I randomly selected a product called "Runchang Tongmi Tea". The sales volume of this product was quite good, with the sales volume displayed that month being 726 pieces.
Scroll through the user reviews area and find that a lot of people are the kind of customers who will come back again. Some users directly wrote "continue to purchase", while others said "the results should be good" and "it is cheaper than buying in the store".
Indeed, I saw several neutral reviews, mainly complaining about slow logistics or squeezed packaging. However, there was not even one that questioned whether the drug itself was fake.
This is an extremely important point because, given things like fake medicines, the comments section is bound to cause an uproar if users are suspicious.
More than 700 people have made purchases, and the positive reviews mainly focus on the effect and genuine products, which shows that the platform has relatively good control over the supply chain.
I noticed that there are some reviews that show pictures of the actual products after receiving them, and the anti-counterfeiting code posted on the packaging box can all be displayed as absolutely authentic goods after scanning.
This kind of casual photo from an ordinary buyer is more convincing than any advertisement.
Compared with offline pharmacies, what’s the difference?
Some people may say that even if the medicine is real, will there be any difference in experience between buying medicine online and buying medicine in a store?
I specifically asked a few friends who have used both channels.
Everyone generally holds the view that the most prominent advantage of offline pharmacies is that they can "get it immediately". Especially when you have a fever and headache, going downstairs to buy a box is undoubtedly the most convenient way.
However, its shortcomings are obvious. Some pharmacies do not have the drug, so it is necessary to go to multiple pharmacies. In addition, the price is opaque. The price of the same drug in different pharmacies can differ by as much as ten yuan.
The situation when buying medicine online is just the opposite. It takes a day or two to wait for the express delivery, which is not suitable for urgent need for medicine. However, fortunately, it has a complete range of products. Many medicines that are out of stock offline can be purchased online, and the prices are transparent, and there are often discounts.
The most critical point is to purchase some drugs with strong privacy, such as those from dermatology, andrology, or gynecology, and purchase them anonymously on the Internet. This can avoid the awkward situation that occurs when communicating with pharmacists in person.
So both actually have their own uses, and it's not a matter of who replaces the other.
Why is the country increasingly supporting online drug sales?
Many people have not paid attention to the fact that in the past two years, the State Food and Drug Administration has successively promulgated a number of documents that are specifically used to regulate Internet drug transactions.
For example, it is stipulated that the platform must present a drug business license, prescription drugs must be sold with a prescription, and the entire distribution process must implement full temperature control, etc.
These regulations are not restrictions, but rather "support" for formal platforms.
As regulations become more stringent, it is increasingly difficult for small workshops that lack qualifications to survive. Platforms such as Ali Health Pharmacy that have followed the rules from the beginning have become the beneficiaries.
In terms of social needs, people with chronic diseases need to buy medicines regularly, young people are reluctant to go to the hospital for minor illnesses, and there are few high-quality pharmacies in third- and fourth-tier cities.
Buying medicine online fills these gaps.
The country is improving laws and regulations and cracking down on illegal drug selling websites. The purpose is to make it convenient and safe for people to buy drugs.
Alibaba Health Pharmacy is a well-qualified pharmacy and the pharmaceutical companies it cooperates with are regular. In the reviews given by buyers, there are no complaints about counterfeit drugs.
Like offline pharmacies, it sells medicines approved by the state.
Of course, when buying medicines online, you have to remember two principles: if you encounter an emergency or serious condition, you must go to the hospital immediately; and prescription drugs can only be purchased with a prescription.
Only by going through regular channels, not clicking on unfamiliar links, and not buying "special medicines" from unknown sources, can buying medicine online really make people feel at ease.
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