JAPAN MINISTRY APPEALS AGAINST LIFTING OF INTERNET MEDICINES SALES BAN
May 1st, 2012
BY JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO
JAPAN'S health ministry is appealing to the country's Supreme Court to overturn a ruling allowing sales of over-the-counter medications via the internet.
The appeal was filed May 9 after the Tokyo High Court decided a ban imposed by the ministry of health, labour and welfare on internet sales was unconstitutional.
The ministry had argued it would be dangerous to sell medicines without consulting a pharmacist. A suicidal person could, it claimed, purchase sufficient drugs to kill themselves.
"We believe it is very important that ...
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