Indian drug retailers protest against e-pharmacies

 14-Oct-15, Reuters 

Indian drug retailers shut up shop for the day on Wednesday to protest against the country's growing online pharmacy industry, and threatened to close indefinitely if the federal government did not shut down e-pharmacies.

Image: Reuters

The nationwide protest was widely supported, with as many as 850,000 chemists closing their doors, leaving patients waiting in long queues at any pharmacies that were open. "I have been to 7-8 shops that were closed. My son has fever, and he needs medicine urgently," said Sukanti Bhoi, 55, as she waited for her turn at a government hospital pharmacy in the eastern state of Odisha.

Shops inside and around hospitals as well as 24-hour pharmacies did not join in the one-day strike.

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