Study of the advantages and risks of electronic retail trade in medicines

One of the most important issues of interest to scientists and practitioners of pharmacy is medicines quality assurance at all stages of their life cycle. From 2021 in Ukraine, the retail trade of medicines via the Internet was allowed. The system of electronic (distance) retail trade (ERT) has its obvious advantages for consumers of pharmaceutical services, but also its potential risks for the medicines quality being sold. The aim of the study is analysis of legislative innovations on ERT in medicines, determination of advantages and possible problems of ERT in medicines, identification of potential risks to the medicines quality during ERT and determination of organizational and practical measures to prevent and minimize them. The research materials were scientific publications, legislative and regulatory acts of Ukraine and the EU, public information of public authorities and pharmaceutical enterprises, data from own observations. The following methods were used in the work: system and content analysis, generalization, systematization, structural-logical, visual-graphic. The analysis of sources of scientific and professional literature showed that domestic and foreign scientists have studied the legal, socio-economic and marketing aspects of ERT in medicines. We studied this issue from the standpoint of quality assurance and risk management for the medicines quality. The paper provides a system and content analysis of legislative innovations on ERT in medicines, summarizes and systematizes the general and special requirements for the procedure for ERT in medicines, identifies the advantages and possible problems of ERT in medicines. The structural and logical scheme of the ERT in medicines process is developed. It is proposed to use this scheme as a basis for the regulation and documentation of the ERT in medicines process by developing appropriate regulatory and instructional documents (regulations or techniques for performing the process, standard operating procedures, work instructions, etc.). According to the research results, the potential risks for the medicines quality in the conditions of ERT are identified and the complex of organizational and practical measures for their prevention and minimization is determined. It is proposed to implement this complex in the overall risk management process for the medicines quality and pharmaceutical services, which should be an integral part of the quality management system of the pharmaceutical enterprise that performs ERT in medicines. These measures should be taken into account when developing standard operating procedures for different stages of ERT in medicines and documentation on risk management for the medicines quality (passports of risk profiles, risk register, risk management plan, etc.).