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The nutraceutical industry has three main segments including herbal/natural products, dietary supplements and
functional foods. The dietary supplements market is preliminarily driven by the paradigm shift toward preventive health
management practices, amid rising healthcare costs and increasing burden of lifestyle diseases. Rise in healthcare expenditure, increased usage of nutraceuticals product as a substitute to prescription and OTC drugs and augmented demand
for nutritional diet are the major factors driving the global nutraceuticals market. Many individual laws were devised to
govern its manufacturing and sale. However, increasing regulatory formalities from multiple agencies and laws, complicate
the development, testing and marketing of these substances and hamper the growth of the nutraceutical market. Globally,
the regulatory authorities are aware of changing needs of consumers and proactively protect consumers by amending existing laws to accommodate changes. Market entry requirements of nutraceuticals, functional foods and supplements vary
from country to country. The global regulatory guidelines aim at regulating various aspects of the nutraceutical and dietary
supplements market, focusing on its manufacture, testing, labeling, sale and registration to assure safety and quality of the
product. The major change that was introduced was the ban on marketing Nutraceuticals as medicinal products. This review
has been performed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the global regulatory requirements with critical analysis
of the Indian regulatory guidelines to explore the lacunae and suggest need of further amendments in the form of recommendations that can be incorporated into regulatory body guidelines to make it more competent for national & international
trade.
The sale of drugs through online pharmacy has emerged all over the globe. These online pharmacies aid in doorstep delivery of medicines hence proving to be convenient for the patient. But the 'Online Pharmacy' concept has drawn a lot of skepticism owing to many online-fraud cases and counterfeiting of drugs. To prevent these mishaps there are no stringent guidelines put forth as those of the sale of drugs in shops. This short communication focuses of the pros and cons of ordering drugs from online pharmacies. Highlights of the Indian scenario of sale of drugs through online pharmacies are discussed. Also, it gives recommendations to tackle illegal sale of drugs with reference to USFDA guidelines for the same and a list of organisations aiding the legitimate sale of drugs through online pharmacies.
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