New regulations that came into force in June 2009 prohibit the sales of some over-the-counter (OTC) drugs via the Internet,by telephone,or via catalogues.However,the appropriateness of this regulation is now being widely discussed from the viewpoints of safety and convenience.The purpose of this study was to survey the attitudes of residents living on a remote island (island with 97 residents having pharmacies,drug stores,and licensed pharmacists) toward purchasing OTC drugs via the Internet.
The results showed that approximately 80% of the respondents had purchased items other than OTC drugs via the Internet but none responded that they usually used the Internet for OTC drug purchases.Further,approximately 90% of them answered that they never felt that Internet OTC drug sales were a necessity.
The results of the survey suggest that,compared with people living in urban areas,purchasing medicinal products via the Internet is disadvantageous for residents of a remote island in terms of the amount of time and money they have to spend to receive them.In view of this,a fact-finding survey on the purchase of OTC medicines by residents of remote islands where there are no pharmacies,drug stores,or licensed pharmacists needs to be conducted in order to establish an optimum system for supplying medicinal products to remote islands.
