A consumer from Shandong, Mr. Cheng, recently encountered a frustrating experience. He placed an order on JD.com for children's medication from a JD.com storefront operated by "Shuyu Pingmin Great Pharmacy" in Jiyang. Upon receiving the goods, he discovered the expiration date was August 2026, meaning it would expire in less than a month. A 30-tablet chewable bottle is nearly impossible to finish within a month, and Mr. Cheng was unwilling to give the nearly expired medication to his child. Before the order was delivered, there were no alerts about the short shelf life on the product detail page, order confirmation page, or during customer service communications. On the JD.com platform, Shuyu Pingmin has faced consumer complaints about near-expiry medication before, as reported on the Black Cat Complaints platform.

The pharmacy admitted to an "operational error," and this is not an isolated case of near-expiry medication complaints. On August 4, Mr. Cheng ordered a box of Xiaoshierkang Children's Multivitamin Chewable Tablets (30 tablets), produced by Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., from the "Shuyu Pingmin Jiyang Store." After receiving the items, he noticed the expiration date was August 2026, leaving less than a month before it expired. "At the time of ordering, the product detail page had no notice about the short shelf life, and there was no explanation upon delivery," Mr. Cheng said. He believes that near-expiry medication should be disclosed to consumers before the sale. "A 30-tablet bottle can't be consumed within a month, so it will just be thrown away. Besides, this is for children; discovering it's nearly expired, I dare not give it to my child." The storefront on JD.com is registered under Shuyu Pingmin Great Pharmacy Chain Co., Ltd., a listed pharmaceutical company headquartered in Jinan. As of the end of the 2025 annual report, the company operates 8,869 stores nationwide, making it a leading player in the country's pharmaceutical retail chain industry. In response to the complaint, Shuyu Pingmin's customer service stated that the incident was due to an operational error. "This is indeed our fault. This product is considered near-expiry medication. The pharmacy has contacted the customer and is actively working to resolve the issue." The involved medication has since been removed from the store's shelves. However, JD.com technology has found on the Black Cat Complaints platform that this is not the first time Shuyu Pingmin has been reported for selling near-expiry medication on JD.com. In December 2023, a consumer reported that they purchased ornidazole capsules from the same chain store and found the expiration date was less than a month upon receipt, accusing the merchant of "failing to disclose in advance, which constitutes fraud." More seriously, according to administrative penalty information released by Credit China (Shandong), the Yiyuan Xintiandi branch of Zibo Shuyu Pingmin Great Pharmacy Co., Ltd. was found to have a packet of "Bendi® Benzalkonium Chloride Patches" that had expired three months prior still displayed on the shelves for sale. This was deemed as selling counterfeit drugs, and on June 1, 2026, the Yiyuan County Market Supervision Bureau issued an administrative penalty decision, confiscating the counterfeit drugs and imposing a fine of 10,000 yuan.

Are there gaps in the platform's review process? Some industry experts believe that this single incident is not enough to conclude that JD.com's overall review mechanism has failed, but it does reveal at least two areas of vulnerability: the "front-end display of near-expiry medication information" and the "store-level expiration date verification during fulfillment." There appears to be a lack of enforcement or insufficient inspections. Bai Wenxi, Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, stated that according to Articles 17, 20, and 22 of the "Supervision and Management Measures for Online Drug Sales," third-party platforms have three core obligations: establishing a drug quality and safety management organization, reviewing the qualifications and quality assurance capabilities of pharmaceutical companies on the platform (with updates at least every six months), and establishing a monitoring system for drug sales activities on the platform. The rules for the medical category on JD.com's open platform also clearly require that if a medication's shelf life is within 90 days, the merchant must display the actual remaining shelf life on the front page. If not disclosed, the merchant must support customer requests for returns and refunds. He believes that the entire process of listing, selling, and shipping a medication with less than a month of shelf life without any near-expiry labels indicates that the platform has risk control blind spots in areas such as automatic system interception and mandatory alerts for near-expiry products. At least for this specific store and SKU, the platform's automated verification mechanism failed to function properly.

From illegal drug sourcing to forged prescriptions, JD.com has faced multiple types of violations by its merchants. The issue of near-expiry medication on JD.com is not an isolated event. JD.com technology has reviewed typical cases of illegal online sales of drugs and medical devices published by the Market Supervision Administration and the National Medical Products Administration in recent years. It found that merchants on JD.com have been repeatedly 'named and shamed' for severe violations such as inaccurate prescription sources, purchasing drugs from illegal channels, and operating without a license. Some cases have been transferred to public security authorities for criminal investigation. Illegal drug procurement is one of the most prominent issues. In 2025, the Xinyu City Market Supervision Bureau confirmed that a pharmacy operating a store on JD.com had purchased some of its drugs from individuals via WeChat groups, unable to explain their legal origin. This is a classic case of 'returned drugs,' where storage conditions are unknown, authenticity is questionable, and safety and efficacy cannot be guaranteed. Due to the high value of the goods and the severity of the case, it has been transferred to the public security authorities for criminal investigation. Also listed as a typical case by the National Medical Products Administration was Linyi Xiuyuan Great Pharmacy Chain Co., Ltd., which sold the anti-tumor targeted drug 'Apatinib Mesylate Tablets' through JD.com. It was found to have been purchased from illegal channels, with an involved value of 46,900 yuan. In April 2023, the Shandong Provincial Drug Administration issued a warning, confiscated the illegal gains of 46,900 yuan, and imposed a fine of 150,000 yuan. The prescription drug sales process is also chaotic. In March 2023, Guangxi Fuchuan Qiannianjian Pharmacy was investigated for selling the prescription drug 'Jianxing Feili Keheji' on JD.com due to an inaccurate prescription source. It was ordered to correct the issue and fined 5,000 yuan. In the first batch of typical cases published by the Fujian Provincial Drug Administration in 2026, a pharmacy in Mawei was also ordered to correct the practice and fined 30,000 yuan for selling the prescription drug 'Omeprazole Enteric Capsules' on JD.com without a prescription. The issue of unlicensed operations cannot be ignored. The Chao'an District Market Supervision Bureau confirmed that Shen, without a drug operating license, sold 'Japanese New Helicobacter Pylori Medication' on JD.com, violating the 'Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China.' He was ordered to confiscate the illegal gains of 4,450.4 yuan and was fined 8,900.8 yuan. Even in the medical device sector, merchants on JD.com have frequent problems. In July 2025, Xiamen Senning Qianyou Trading Co., Ltd. sold the Class II medical device 'Disposable Tracheal Intubation Guide Wire' on JD.com without displaying the medical device registration certificate on the product page. More concerning is that the company had been previously ordered to correct the same violation and given a warning within a year, but it did not rectify the issue. In December 2025, the Xiamen Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty on the company. An unavoidable question arises: When registered merchants repeatedly cross the line, has JD.com, as the platform, assumed its corresponding responsibilities? Based on publicly available information, typical case reports from the National Medical Products Administration mostly focus on administrative penalties for registered merchants, with relatively few disclosed cases of penalties against the platform itself. However, this does not mean the platform can remain uninvolved. Bai Wenxi told JD.com technology that according to Articles 22 and 23 of the 'Supervision and Management Measures for Online Drug Sales,' if a platform discovers that a registered company has engaged in illegal activities, it must immediately stop the activity and report it. For serious violations, it must immediately stop providing platform services. If regulatory authorities confirm that the platform has failed to fulfill its monitoring obligations, it may face a deadline for rectification, fines, and in severe cases, may be ordered to suspend operations or even have its business license revoked. However, in Bai Wenxi's view, civil liability is a more critical layer. Article 38 of the 'E-commerce Law' clearly states that if a platform knows or should know that a merchant on its platform is selling goods that do not meet safety and health requirements for persons or property, or other actions that infringe on consumer rights, and fails to take necessary measures, it shall bear joint liability with the merchant in accordance with the law. It is worth noting that as early as July 5, 2023, Huang Guo, then Deputy Director of the National Medical Products Administration, clearly stated at a State Council Information Office press conference, 'Large platforms such as Alibaba, JD, Meituan, Pinduoduo, and Xiaohongshu should take the lead in fulfilling platform responsibilities,' using their technological and management advantages to strengthen the review of the legitimate qualifications of registered merchants. When the 'Supervision and Management Measures for Online Drug Sales' was introduced, JD Health responded that it had established a quality compliance management system for self-operated drugs and devices, creating four compliance indicator dashboards for self-operated pharmaceuticals and devices covering suppliers, products, operating systems, and warehouse/store management. However, given the series of violation cases exposed in recent years, the effectiveness and penetration of this system in constraining third-party merchants on the platform are clearly questionable.