Steps are being taken in New Zealand by the government and the pharmacy and medical professions to provide controls on the supply of medicines over the internet. The New Zealand government is to change the law so that pharmacies in New Zealand cannot sell medicines over the internet to customers in other countries unless a prescription has been written by a New Zealand registered medical practitioner.
The change is to be made as a result of a court ruling that a pharmacist who made such sales was not breaking the law.
According to the April issue of New Zealand's Pharmacy Today, there are more than 30 pharmacies in the country engaged in internet sales.
New Zealand's medical council has said that any doctor providing prescriptions which are to be dispensed via the internet should have met the patient at least once, should be satisfied that no physical examination was necessary and should be prepared to defend that view if a complaint was made. It added that both doctor and patient should live in New Zealand.
For its part, the New Zealand pharmaceutical society is developing a way of accrediting internet pharmacy sites.