Pharmacy Daily | Crack down a reminder

THE global crack down on counterfeit and illegal medicines purchased over the internet has been hailed as a timely reminder to consumers of the risks of purchasing medicines from overseas websites (PD 26 May). Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) national manager professor John Skerritt said the TGA advised consumers to exercise “extreme caution” when purchasing medicines over the internet, with some looking like genuine medicines but potentially containing the wrong active ingredient, too much or too little or dangerous substances. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia president George Tambassis said consumers should use a pharmacy and consult a pharmacist where they could identify a physical address in Australia, and where they could be sure the pharmacist was registered and accountable to their registration board. “The internet pharmacy environment can be tricky to navigate, with significant numbers of unscrupulous and illegal operators in the mix with bona fide pharmacies, operated by ethical professionals registered with their jurisdiction.” The TGA said a large part of the substances seized were erectile dysfunction medications, and the Guild reminded consumers that Viagra and its generic alternatives were only available with a prescription. CLICK HERE for the TGA information page on buying medicines over the internet. MEANWHILE as part of the operation, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it targeted YouTube accounts and videos for the first time. The agency said 18,671 videos were removed since last year’s operation. Head of enforcement Alastair Jeffrey said it had removed almost 20,000 links to illegally operating websites that were supported by social media platforms.

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