A few years ago, we could only buy electronic products and travel products on the Internet. Clothes, cars, houses and even food can be obtained online these days. This unstoppable movement has led the pharmaceutical industry to join the phenomenon, launching its products online. But the last movement requires special care, because we are talking about a product, namely a drug, which has a direct impact on the health of citizens.
fake market
Counterfeit drugs can be 10 times more profitable than selling heroin, and in some cases 20 times more profitable than trafficking cocaine. This astonishing profitability is the reason for the increasing number of counterfeit medicines in our country. For example, the number of illicit drugs for which the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) has technically reported in Spain has increased from 1,119 in 2010 to 2,416 in 2019. More than doubled in less than ten years.
From the most basic masks, to antiviral drugs, to vaccines. In tightly controlled countries and within the European Union, it is much more difficult for these products to enter the pharmaceutical pipeline, but they are available for free on the Internet. This was noted in a report published a year ago by the General Council of Colleges of Official Pharmacists (CGCOF). Classic drugs such as treatments for erectile dysfunction, smoking, obesity, sleep disorders or anabolic drugs continue to top the list of most sought-after, but almost always by mistake. From 2021, a total of 466 actions against illicit drugs were taken in the year, according to the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Healthcare Products (AEMPS).
a very serious matter
If we buy fake perfume or fake clothes, we support a system that causes huge economic damage and encourages abuse by people in third countries (usually developing countries) who manufacture these products. But buying counterfeit medicines poses an immediate risk not only to our wallets, but also to our own health.
First of all, due to the loss of efficacy in the treatment of diseases, when the copies are completely or partially lacking the active ingredients that really heal us, it leads to treatment failure and problems in the control of the pathology. For example, a study commissioned by the World Health Organization and published by the University of Edinburgh in 2018 on the impact of the use of substandard and counterfeit antibiotics to treat pneumonia in children (0-5 years) showed that as many as 72,430 cases of pneumonia in children worldwide died from pneumonia Probably due to the use of antibiotics with low antibiotic activity, 169,271 people would have died if the antibiotics were completely inactive (World Health Organization, 2018).
In addition, however, poisoning can occur if it contains impurities or toxic substances such as talc, chalk or industrial paint, or if it contains the incorrect active ingredient. It’s not something we made up either: In 2015, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11 people died and 930 were hospitalized after taking counterfeit diazepam because the pills actually contained haloperidol, which was packaged as diazepam.
Thus, the problem of counterfeiting of medicines affects all countries, regardless of level of economic development (56% of incidents occurred in developing countries and the remaining 44% in developed countries) and all therapeutic categories, and it is estimated that it affects at least 7,200 patients and leads to More than 3,600 people died; but other estimates are higher when suboptimal quality drugs are taken into account.
situation in spain
In fact, if we’re talking about the sale of fakes on the internet, it doesn’t make much sense to shut down that space for specific countries. In Spain, like anywhere else in the world, we have easy access to fake medicines. But if we have an extensive network of pharmacies and a health system where universality is one of the important pillars, why buy counterfeit medicines?
Experts believe that there are two fundamental reasons: one is the high price of “original research drugs” and they are not included in social security. Another is humility, especially for men, including recognizing that they suffer from certain types of problems, such as erection problems. Humility has made fake Viagra one of the most counterfeit drugs, so much so that the lab that makes it, Pfizer, admits online 80% of Viagra sold is fake.
But we should not think that the risk of buying medicines lies solely in buying counterfeit medicines. It must be remembered that in our country the online sale of medicines is permitted as long as some very specific requirements are met, contained in regulations in force since 2013:
– Only over-the-counter medicines are allowed to be sold, prescription medicines are prohibited through telematics programs.
– The sale of medicines not subject to medical prescriptions via the Internet can only be carried out by pharmacies open to the public, legally authorized and present on the list published by the competent authority (https://distafarma.aemps.es).
– Sales must be made directly from the pharmacy, with the intervention of the pharmacist responsible for dispensing, without middlemen.
– Orders will be placed directly to the pharmacy through a website enabled for this purpose.
– Delivery of medicines from the dispensing pharmacy to the address specified by the user will be the responsibility of the pharmacy.
One of the differences that we see between fake medicines being sold and those that are sold as counterfeit medicines but by people who are not authorized to do so is that in the second case we can find them in more than just well known online establishments. And fully licensed to sell a wide variety of products; except, of course, pharmaceuticals.
In this sense, a few months ago we, together with the Council of the Official College of Pharmacists of Extremadura, condemned the Extremadura Consumers Union for the sale of illegal pregnancy tests in unauthorized establishments the behavior of.
As we said, online sales of Advertisement Pharmacy Professionals (EFP), over-the-counter medicines, and some health products have been allowed for many years, but only through pharmacies duly registered and authorized to sell them. from the internet.
These healthcare products include so-called “self-diagnostic tests,” the most popular of which are those that detect COVID-19 infection and pregnancy. The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) itself tells on its website that people can only buy self-diagnostic tests through pharmacies or their websites.
As such, the UCE condemns the online sale of pregnancy tests that do not have a CE mark and therefore cannot at all ensure that they comply with the safety and effectiveness regulations we have in place in the EU.
This infringement poses a serious risk to consumers who use self-diagnostic tests, the accuracy of the results cannot be guaranteed under any circumstances, and important decisions can therefore be made on the basis of evidence without any scientific basis. support.
in conclusion
The internet has opened up a wonderful world for us, a world where infinite possibilities are accessible from the comfort of our couch. But each has its own crosses, the most obvious of which is the possibility of buying online products that are banned in our country.
In this sense, we can identify two distinct problems: buying counterfeit medicines or buying medicines that are perfectly legal but sold outside officially authorized channels.
This growing phenomenon poses a very serious threat to public health. For example, a few months ago, a network in Spain that imported medicines from Malaysia was dismantled, falsely claiming that they were food supplements and natural plants to evade customs controls. These products were later advertised as 100% natural energizers, but in fact, as various analyzes have confirmed, they were powerful drugs, such as tadalafil and sildenafil, designed to treat erectile dysfunction, in Taking without medical supervision may cause myocardial infarction, unstable angina, ventricular arrhythmia, palpitations, tachycardia, cerebrovascular accident and even sudden death.
On the other hand, in many cases, medicines purchased on illegal websites come with labels or leaflets in another language, or without any type of leaflet or accompanying information. This directly affects the efficacy and safety of treatments, as authorities assessing information against a drug’s known properties is an important factor in getting the most out of a drug.
It is common for many websites that sell illegal drugs to sell drugs that require a prescription for free. The sale of medicines without a prescription also poses risks to the health of consumers. This prescription ensures that the patient has been examined by a qualified physician who has made a diagnosis, assessed the necessity of drug therapy and its suitability for the patient, and has properly informed him.
Pharmacies are the best defense against counterfeit medicines. Responsible pharmacists will act as guarantors of the quality, safety and effectiveness of drug treatments.
Therefore, health authorities have a double duty. Thorough control of these networks and the training of the population keeps them from falling into this trap.