Medicine offered online: how can you check the website before ordering?

To check a French website offering medicines, open the public register maintained by the French National Order of Pharmacists. Compare the exact website address with the address listed there. The Order keeps this register updated for pharmacies that have declared their online sales activity under the applicable rules.

Look for the common European logo on pages relating to medicines. For a French website, it includes the French flag and invites you to check the website’s legal status. Click it to find the website in the official register: check the link and matching entry as well as the logo image.

Identify the pharmacy operating the website. The accessible information must include the pharmacy’s name and address, the responsible pharmacists, a telephone number and an email address. These details help you establish which pharmacy and professional you are dealing with.

Check the category of medicine being offered. In France, online sales are limited to medicines for human use that do not require a prescription. A scanned or photographed prescription does not make a remote sale of prescription-only medicines possible through this channel.

If you are in France, this restriction also applies to sellers permitted to operate in another European Union country. They cannot sell prescription-only medicines remotely to patients who are on French territory. Checking the seller’s country therefore helps you understand the applicable rules.

Ask the pharmacist for the information needed to use the medicine you are considering properly. Online sales from a pharmacy remain under the pharmacist’s responsibility and must allow this advice. A register entry checks the sales channel; the professional still needs to check the intended use against your circumstances and treatments.