If you are considering weight-loss medication, use a legitimate prescribing service
Prescription medicines require a prescription, including online sales. Chinese online sellers must verify a genuine prescription and the buyer's identity. A store that simply ships prescription medicine without assessment or prescription verification is not providing the required safeguards. A clinician should review dose, contraindications, and whether the drug is appropriate.
What it takes
The source estimates a consultation at tens of RMB in China and about half a day including travel; medication costs are additional.
What you may gain
China's Measures for Quality Supervision of Drug Distribution and Use require retailers to follow prescription/nonprescription classification and dispense prescription medicines against prescriptions, retained for at least five years. If the pharmacist or other qualified pharmacy professional is absent, the store must display a notice and may not sell prescription medicines without the required review. Prescription medicines may not be offered on open self-service shelves. Article 9 of the Measures for Supervision of Online Drug Sales requires authentic, reliable prescriptions and real-name purchasing. Article 10 requires prominent risk warnings on each drug display page and prohibits providing the purchasing service or displaying the relevant instructions before prescription review under its rules. Article 8 prohibits online sale of specially controlled drugs, including vaccines, blood products, narcotics, psychotropics, toxic medicines, radioactive medicines, and pharmaceutical precursor chemicals.
Context & considerations
The legal requirements can be checked directly, but the source found no numerical estimate for how much safer prescribed use is than unsupervised purchasing, so it assigns B for an unquantified benefit. The same sales rules apply to the anabolic steroids and sex hormones in entry 5 and entry 7. A clinician considers BMI, other conditions, and contraindications before deciding whether medication is appropriate and which medicine to use. An unreviewed purchase does not provide that assessment.
Research & references
State Administration for Market Regulation (2023). Measures for Quality Supervision of Drug Distribution and Use, Order No. 84. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/2023/issue_10846/202311/content_6917322.html; State Administration for Market Regulation (2022). Measures for Supervision of Online Drug Sales, Order No. 58, Articles 8–10. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2022/content_5717002.htm