Article date: February 2009
By: Connie Raine, David J. Webb, Simon R. J. Maxwell, in Volume 67, Issue 2, pages 250-254
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT
• Increasing numbers of people are accessing medicines from the internet.
• This online market is poorly regulated and represents a potential threat to the health of patients and members of the public.
WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS
• Prescription‐only analgesics, including controlled opioids, are readily available to the UK public through internet pharmacies that are easily identified by popular search engines.
• The majority of websites do not require the customer to possess a valid prescription for the drug.
• Less than half provide an online health screen to assess suitability for supply.
• The majority have no registered geographical location.
• Analgesic medicines are usually purchased at prices significantly above British National Formulary prices and are often supplied in large quantities.
• These findings are of particular relevance to pain‐management specialists who are trying to improve the rational use of analgesic drugs.
AIMS To explore the availability to the UK population of prescription‐only analgesics from the internet.
METHODS Websites were identified by using several keywords in the most popular internet search engines. From 2000 websites, details of 96 were entered into a database.
RESULTS Forty‐six (48%) websites sold prescription analgesics, including seven opioids, two non‐opioids and 18 nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs. Thirty‐five (76%) of these did not require the customer to possess a valid prescription.
CONCLUSION Prescription‐only analgesics, including controlled opioids, are readily available from internet websites, often without a valid prescription.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2008.03343.x
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