Medicines Board halts web sales of prescription drugs

DRUGS investigators have closed down four overseas websites for illegally selling medicines to people in Ireland.

The action by the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) follows an Irish Examiner investigation earlier this year into the hidden dangers of buying medicines online.

The investigation found that rogue websites are selling medicines like anti-depressants, the sex drug Viagra and valium without asking any questions about the purchaser who would be required to have a prescription to purchase such items here.

The IMB worked with its counterparts abroad to stop four unnamed websites from sending pills to customers in Ireland.

As a health-protection measure, Irish patients are forbidden by law from buying prescription-only medicines from suppliers overseas as there is no guarantee of their quality or even if they are safe to consume.

Despite the ban, this newspaper was easily able to buy 10 popular medicines from six online pharmacies overseas and get the goods delivered to its Cork offices.

Now the IMB has ordered the six websites to curb their supplies to Ireland, and has tipped off the drugs enforcement authorities in the European countries where the sites are based.

The IMB has also stopped two other websites from advertising medicines while an Irish-based one has ceased supplying the beauty product botox.

“The issue of internet sales is global and commands extensive resources from regulatory agencies worldwide,” the IMB said.

“We co-operate with the authorities throughout Europe to combat the illegal supply of medicinal products and this strategy has been effective in closing down illegal websites in the past.

“Since the date of publication of the Irish Examiner investigation, the IMB has contributed to the closure of four websites by counterparts in other countries.”

The original exposé also revealed the hard job the authorities have in tackling the rogue websites, which are often based in different countries to dodge international controls.

Investigators from the IMB said they were also working with internet service providers — the firms who run and control internet access — to combat the rogue websites.

“This increased awareness on the part of service providers has led to a number of illegal activities, relating to the offering for sale of medicinal products, being stopped,” the IMB said.

Drugs investigators say the sale of medicine online poses a great threat to the health of patients as they cannot be sure if the products are genuine and safe.

The investigation, which was carried out earlier this year, showed how medicines were arriving in Ireland from as far away as the Pacific islands.