600,000 Irish people buy counterfeit drugs every year

MORE than 600,000 Irish people are spending more than €86 million on counterfeit drugs every year as part of a potentially deadly multi-billion euro black market economy.

A study has found that hundreds of dangerous drugs, tablets and potions are being sold to Irish people every day.

According to the research, commissioned by drugs firm Pfizer and based on interviews with 14,000 people across 14 European countries, €10.5 billion is spent every year on drugs illegally bought over the internet or from third party sources.

Of this figure, €86m is believed to relate to an estimated 600,000 Irish people who purchase the medications every 12 months.

While online medications are regularly labelled as well-known products, many have no connection to the brand.

According to the Europe- wide research, some contain ingredients such as rat poison, boric acid and lead paint – posing potentially lethal consequences to those who take them.

Of the 1,000 people surveyed in Ireland one in five admitted to buying prescription medications from illegal sources.

More than half of drugs purchased were from the internet, with 16.6% bought overseas, 12% through a friend, 6.5% via a spam email and 2% in a bar.

According to the research the main reasons people purchased the prescription medications through illegal sources were financial constraints (70%) and to save time (27%).

However, Stephen McMahon, chair of the Irish Patients’ Association (IPA), said: “Many people simply do not realise the very real dangers of buying medicines online and that one click of the mouse could kill.”

Jim Thomson, of the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines, added “only take prescription only medicines from a legitimate healthcare source”.