Karlsruhe (dpa) – Customers of the drugstore chain dm will in future be able to buy over-the-counter medications such as painkillers online. The Karlsruhe-based company has recently created the conditions for a dm online pharmacy and is in discussions with manufacturers and suppliers, said Sebastian Bayer, Managing Director for Marketing and Communications, upon request. According to the information, prescription medicines for which you also need a doctor's prescription should not be sold. The “Handelsblatt” had previously reported on it. Accordingly, a company was founded in the Czech Republic.
It is still unclear when people will be able to use the online offer. “In order to be able to start exactly when the conditions are good and right, we are preparing ourselves logistically,” said Bayer. It is also about possible new legal regulations after the federal election and expected changes in the healthcare market. In this context, dm refers to the decline in pharmacies and the increasing digitalization in the area of health, for example through e-prescriptions, digital patient files and telemedicine.
The chairman of the management board, Christoph Werner, had already described the topic of health as a “megatrend” at the end of 2023. What matters most is what options the legislature gives the industry – for example in relation to pharmacies, Werner said at the time. People are getting older, younger people are also appreciating health more, prevention is playing a larger role and pharmacies are closing at the same time. “Sooner or later the market structure will have to change,” said Werner.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:241218-930-321491/1
