Behaviour analysis of patients who purchase medicines on the internet: can hospital pharmacists facilitate online medication safety?

Abstract

Background Although there are numerous legal and regulated online pharmacies available on the internet, an abundance of illegitimate online pharmacies are offering medications without prescriptions and deliver products with unknown origins worldwide. Despite the fact that the problem has gained the attention of regulatory and health organisations, the awareness of patients and many healthcare professionals is relatively low. Objectives The purpose of this work is to assess the current situation of ordering medicines online, to survey the attitude of patients regarding online drug purchase, promoting the completion of the medication history worksheet and to recommend useful tools for hospital pharmacists to facilitate online medication safety. Methods The attitude of 422 patients regarding purchasing drugs online was evaluated in a hospital environment. Results 8.4% of Hungarian hospital patients have ordered drugs or dietary supplements online and 3.7% of the respondents are considering this option in the future. Most hospital patients (82.8%) are unaware of the quality of these products. Conclusions Patients are not fully aware of the risks of potential hazards associated with purchasing medicines online and presumably cannot differentiate between legal and illegal online pharmacies. Illegal and counterfeit medicines pose a serious public health risk because the origin and quality of these drugs are uncertain and patients typically take these preparations without the knowledge and supervision of physicians or pharmacists. Pharmacists can play an essential role in protecting patient safety and combating counterfeit medicines.

Evaluating Aspects of Online Medication Safety in Long-Term Follow-Up of 136 Internet Pharmacies: Illegal Rogue Online Pharmacies Flourish and Are Long-Lived

“…Online pharmacies can be beneficial to consumers (eg, convenience, privacy, free access to information, comparison shopping, etc) but can also carry with them numerous disadvantages (eg, lack of meaningful interaction with physician and pharmacists, misdiagnosis, inappropriate use of medicines, personal data protection, etc) [5-7]. These disadvantages and dangers are further exacerbated in the case of unlicensed and illegally operated online pharmacies.…”

Profiling online recreational/prescription drugs' customers and overview of drug vending virtual marketplaces

“…Conversely, online acquisition of contraceptives was made by female subjects properly covered by health insurance schemes (Kaskowitz et al, ). Overall, higher levels of education (Chiauzzi et al, ) were here associated with online search of health‐related information (Menon et al, ; Pew/Internet, ; CASA, ; Gordon et al, ; Kaskowitz et al, ; Atkinson et al, ; Pew/Internet, ; Kishimoto et al, ; Rajamma and Pelton, ; Wiedmann et al, ; Holtgräfe and Zentes, ; Mazer et al, ; Svorc, ; Fittler et al, ). Conversely, low literacy levels' subjects were more prone to make a purchase from “rogue Internet pharmacies” (Ivanitskaya et al, ).…”

Consumers Turning to the Internet Pharmacy Market: Cross-Sectional Study on the Frequency and Attitudes of Hungarian Patients Purchasing Medications Online (Preprint)

“…A Hungarian language questionnaire was developed by the authors (FA, VRGy pharmacists and KM psychologist) for this study based on previous research [57] and a preceding pilot study. In the online pilot study open questions were used, covering the topics of the study questionnaire to map the general attitudes of the prospective sample.…”

“…A Hungarian survey among hospital patients has showed that 8.4% of the respondents ordered drugs or dietary supplements online and 3.7% of the respondents are considering this option in the future. Gender, age and educational profile did not significantly affected the experience in ordering health related products from the Internet [57]. An Italian study in involving more than 100 adult subjects investigated the use of the Internet for searching for information on medicines, dietary supplements and disease.…”