Legality of online sales of non-prescription medicines: status of a pharmacist required?
CJEU, judgment of 29.2.2024, C-606/21 - Legality of online sales of non-prescription medicinal products: status of a pharmacist required?
The CJEU recently had to deal with the exciting question of the extent to which suppliers who do not have the status of pharmacist may still offer over-the-counter medicines for sale online.
The Paris Court of Appeal suspended the main proceedings and referred questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling. The French court asked the CJEU to answer the question of whether the activity of the company Doctipharma according to its website www.doctipharma.fr is an 'information society service' within the meaning of Directive 98/34/EC. It also referred the question of whether EU law must be interpreted as meaning that Member States may prohibit the provision of such a service, which consists of bringing together, by means of a website, pharmacists and customers for the sale of non-prescription medicines via the websites of pharmacies which have subscribed to that service.
The CJEU clarified that the term "information society service" may also include a service consisting of bringing together pharmacists and customers for the sale of medicinal products.
The Court has also ruled that Member States may prohibit the provision of this service by providers who are not pharmacists and who themselves act as sellers of non-prescription medicines. However, if the provider in question is limited to bringing sellers and customers together, a Member State may not prohibit this service on the grounds that the provider in question lacks the status of a pharmacist and is involved in the trade in medicinal products.