The power struggle between online sales platforms and pharmacies over the distribution of medicine online continues, as the “Deregulation and Business Environment Improvement Board” has declared the Food and Drug Administration’s directive banning pharmacies from cooperating with online platforms to be illegal and has demanded its cancellation.
On May 21, the Food and Drug Administration banned pharmacies from collaborating with online sales platforms. This reaction came after the Iranian Pharmacists Association accused online platforms of undermining drug distribution security by creating a virtual black market.
The association referred specifically to the sale of narcotic medications and rare or scarce drugs through black market channels.
Pharmacy owners and pharmaceutical companies, due to the Iranian regime’s policies, are entangled in complex financial difficulties, including 40 trillion rials (approximately $48.192 million) in bounced checks, and 290 trillion rials (approximately $349.397 million) in outstanding receivables from insurance companies and the Targeted Subsidy Organization.
Online drug sales, at a time when insurance companies and the Targeted Subsidy Organization delay for months in compensating the difference between the real and official prices of medicine, are seen as a temporary remedy for the deeply troubled finances of pharmacies.
Although the head of the Food and Drug Administration had promised in March 2025 that online drug sales would be implemented under full supervision and within new regulatory frameworks starting spring 2025, a new wave of opposition led the Pharmacists Association to submit a protest letter to the president regarding the activities of online sales platforms.
Ramin Moghadam, a digital health expert, told the state-run Mehr news agency that the Deregulation Board has no authority to intervene in health matters regarding online pharmaceutical delivery, stating: “A purely economic perspective from the Deregulation Board on online drug delivery is harmful.”
On the other hand, Marzieh Bazrafshan, legal deputy of the Iranian Pharmacists Association, has described the excessive insistence of platforms on selling medicine online as suspicious.
Many pharmacists and pharmacy owners believe that platforms like Snapp and Digikala, under the protection of the government—especially the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology—are bypassing the Ministry of Health and Medical Education’s oversight over healthcare standards and services.
Snapp and Digikala treat medicine like mobile phones and consumer goods
Many pharmacists and pharmacy owners support making medicine more accessible to patients, but emphasize that it must be done through a healthy and regulated process.
What has caused pharmacists to take a stance against pressure from platforms like Snapp and Digikala is that these companies are treating medicine the same way they handle mobile phones, refrigerators, electronic goods, and other consumer products.
These platforms want to create their own stockpile of medicine and fulfill requests for medication without considering whether a prescription is required.
Lack of pharmaceutical delivery standards; easy access to drugs like Tramadol
One of the points emphasized in the Pharmacists Association’s letter was the emergence of a black market for medicine through these platforms, which it referred to as a “virtual Naser Khosrow”—a reference to the infamous black market street in Tehran.
One outcome of the involvement of unrelated ministries in pharmaceutical delivery and the pressure from platforms is that drugs like Tramadol—a narcotic painkiller that must only be dispensed with a prescription—have been listed as available medications in online systems. Previously, a person without a prescription might have had to search multiple pharmacies to possibly obtain it, but now, they can simply place an order through the platform and easily purchase it.
Another critical issue—especially with specialized medicines—is how they are transported. Some medications must be handled with extreme care during transit to avoid any movement. Currently, there is no oversight on how these drugs are transported in online sales, which is a responsibility that the Food and Drug Administration must enforce, just as it does for physical pharmacies.
Maintaining the cold chain, where certain medicines must be stored at temperatures between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, is another critical factor. Currently, there is no oversight on this aspect in online distribution, and due to frequent power outages, this issue can lead to spoilage of medications.
