The current practice by the operator of Linden Pharmacy in Gräfenhaneichen of selling pharmacy-only medications such as Aspirin, Grippostad and Canestan through Amazon is illegal. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave this decision on Friday after questions from the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
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The Barrier: Michael Spiegel, owner of Linden Pharmacy, has been selling pharmacy-only medications through Amazon since 2017 and now through the Prime Express service, which can be delivered within an hour. While ordering these medicines online, customers have to enter various personal information.
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On the basis of the law against unfair competition (UWG), one of Spiegel’s competitors, Hermann Vogel Jr., operator of the Munich Vinthir pharmacy, first filed a legal warning with a lawyer and then applied to the German courts to ban the rival. . To carry out this activity.
First, it must be guaranteed that consumers can give prior consent to the processing of health data. The courts of first and second instance also took the view that this distribution is an unfair and unlawful practice.
Conclusions about health status possible
The ECJ decided that Judgment in Case C-21/23 Now the information entered by customers when ordering pharmacy-only medicines online represents particularly sensitive health data within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), regardless of whether a doctor’s prescription is required for the sale of these medicines. May not be necessary. This information can be used to determine a customer’s health status.
The seller must therefore inform the customer clearly, completely and in an easily understandable way about the specific circumstances and purposes of the data processing and obtain his explicit consent. Luxembourg judges also explicitly recognized the possibility of issuing warnings on the basis of the GDPR.
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