High Prevalence of Banned Drug Sales on Chinese E-commerce Platforms: The First Empirical Assessment of NMPA's Banned List Compliance (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Since 2019, the online sales of prescription drugs in China have gradually been lifted of restrictions, and the risk of drug abuse has attracted regulatory attention. OBJECTIVE To prevent such risks, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) issued the "Banned List of Drugs for Online Sales (First Edition)" in 2022, which clearly stipulates the scope of drugs prohibited for online sale. This study aims to investigate the compliance status of Chinese e-commerce platforms with this list. METHODS We selected 43 banned drugs from the "Banned List of Drugs for Online Sales (First Edition)" as research samples. We conducted searches on four e-commerce platforms: Taobao, JD.com, Meituan, and Ele.me, and used descriptive statistical methods to analyze the current sales status and purchase process of the banned drugs. Additionally, we employed chi-square testing to compare the differences in the sales of banned drugs across the four platforms. RESULTS Overall, 58.1% of banned drugs can be purchased on the four platforms. In terms of the types of banned drugs drugs for sale, antiepileptic drugs, antithrombotic drugs, and antifungal drugs are all on sale, 80% of antibiotics are on sale, and half of cardiovascular system drugs are on sale. The sales rates of the four platforms, from high to low, are as follows: Ele.me 53.5%, JD.com 51.2%, Taobao 48.8%, and Meituan 44.2%. There are violations in the sales process. The Pearson chi square value is 0.814, indicating that the differences between the relevant variables have not reached a statistically significant level. CONCLUSIONS Although the "Banned List of Drugs for Online Sales (First Edition)" has clearly defined the scope of banned prescription drugs, there are significant deficiencies in the compliance of e-commerce platforms. Therefore, Chinese regulatory authorities need to further strengthen supervision to ensure the safety of public medication.