Core Viewpoint - The recent draft regulation from a local market supervision administration regarding the management of self-service medicine dispensing machines has sparked significant discussion within the industry, particularly concerning the potential for unfair competition with traditional pharmacies due to lower operational costs associated with these machines [1] Group 1: Regulatory Changes - The draft regulation proposes that self-service machines will be allowed to dispense prescription medications and Class A non-prescription drugs [1] - The document is currently in the internal consultation phase and is not publicly available, limiting further commentary from the market supervision administration [1] Group 2: Industry Concerns - Multiple brick-and-mortar pharmacies have expressed concerns that e-commerce platforms may leverage self-service machines to sell prescription drugs at lower costs, creating an uneven playing field [1] - Traditional pharmacies face significant operational costs, with an estimated monthly labor cost of nearly 20,000 yuan per store, while a single self-service machine incurs an annual operating cost of only a few thousand yuan [1] - The absence of a pharmacist on-site for prescription verification raises safety concerns regarding medication use [1]