Buying over-the-counter drugs online without a prescription
What should apply in Switzerland in future?
Outdated law: why you can’t get non-prescription drugs online in Switzerland
17.9.2025
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
If you want to order non-prescription drugs online in Switzerland, you’ll be faced with a strange situation. While foreign providers such as Amazon will deliver aspirin and similar drugs straight to your home without any questions, Swiss providers are prohibited from doing so. The federal government now wants to put an end to this unequal treatment. But what will the outcome be?
If you’ve been looking to buy aspirin from the online shop «zur Rose», you needn’t bother. An inconspicuous information box on their page lets customers know that Swiss companies may only ship over-the-counter drugs if you can present a prescription. The situation is different on the US platform Amazon, where customers in Switzerland can have aspirin delivered to their homes without a prescription. This is possible because of German pharmacies that use Amazon as a marketplace to ship to Switzerland.
Federal court’s surprise ban in 2015
The backstory on this unequal treatment is a Federal Supreme Court ruling from 2015 (document in German). The Federal Supreme Court states that Article 27 of the Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) only permits mail-order trade, including over-the-counter medicines, if the customer can present a doctor’s prescription. This rule is intended to prevent overconsumption and abuse. However, people don’t normally see a doctor to get a prescription before ordering medicine online if they can simply pick up the same drug at the pharmacy next door without a prescription. As a result, Swiss online mail-order pharmacies have practically stopped delivering over-the-counter drugs to people’s homes. If there’s no demand, there’s no supply.
Outdated law used as a loophole
So how come foreign platforms are permitted to offer over-the-counter medicines and deliver them to Switzerland? Because the law says they can. In addition to Article 27 of the TPA, there’s a further provision in Article 20, which is then further elaborated in Article 48 of the Medicinal Products Licensing Ordinance. It states that patients may import ready-to-use medicinal products that are not authorised in Switzerland in quantities needed for their personal use.
Source: Pexels
These rules obviously date from a different time, as the federal government also acknowledges in a German-language report. For one, it provides an exception in Article 20 for tourists and people in transit. In addition, online mail order wasn’t yet a thing when the article was enacted. What’s more, the Federal Council concedes that the protective concept in Article 27 TPA disregards more recent technological developments. In other words, these days, providers can ensure that patients receive the necessary advice online, as the experience during the Covid crisis proved.
Dampening effect on healthcare costs
To find out what effects a relaxation of the ban in Article 27 TPA with accompanying measures would have, the federal government commissioned health economists to write up a report (in German). It’s been available since March. The authors predict predominantly positive effects if Article 27 were relaxed. For example, it would eliminate the unequal treatment of Swiss and foreign providers. According to the experts, there’s no evidence that patient safety would decrease. In our neighbouring countries, the mail-order of drugs is generally permitted and there’s no evidence that people are consuming too much or the wrong medication as a result. The experts who wrote the report are much more concerned that the current exemption provision reduces patient safety. This is because foreign distributors and their products aren’t subject to Swiss drug supervision (Swissmedic). Finally, liberalisation could lead to greater price transparency and more competition, which could reduce healthcare costs.
What do you think?
The Confederation is currently fleshing out what exactly the new Article 27 TPA should contain and what accompanying measures online retailers in Switzerland must take. It’s also examining whether it should restrict the exemption provision (this was the response (in German)). What’s your opinion? Which way should Switzerland head?
Header image: Unplash
Marc Engelhard
Public Affairs Manager
Marc.Engelhard@digitecgalaxus.chProfessionally, I get to deal a lot with politics, business and society. Privately, I like to buy books and stack them up at home. I once read that the Japanese call this tsundoku.
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