As the new academic year begins, the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is campaigning to students about the risks of self-prescribing and self-medicating with medicines purchased online.
Online drugs
Buying prescription medicines online, such as anti-anxiety medicines and benzodiazepines, outside the regulated supply chain carries with it the risk of potentially dangerous or useless medicines. Despite repeated warnings, online purchases of these types of medicines is still prevalent.
The #FakeMeds campaign is aimed at protecting students’ health and money by offering tips on how to avoid potentially dangerous of useless medications sold by illegal online suppliers.
“Purchasing medicines outside the regulated supply chain has inherent dangers as there is no assurance of quality and standards. Medicines purchased in this way could have the wrong active ingredient, no active ingredient, or indeed the incorrect dosage,” said MHRA head of Enforcement, Alastair Jeffrey.
“Prescription only medicines are, by their very nature, potent and should only be prescribed by a doctor or appropriate healthcare professional. We would advise people not to buy medicines from unregulated sources as they pose a danger to their health.
“Self-diagnosis and self-medication can be dangerous. If you have a concern about your health, visit your GP, get a correct diagnosis and if medicines are prescribed, buy them from a legitimate source.
“Be careful buying medicines online — criminals are known to exploit vulnerable people by supplying medicines through unregulated websites and stealing their credit card details.”