A quarter of GPs have reported treating patients who are suffering from side effects after purchasing medicines on the internet. So if you’re thinking of shopping for medication or medical devices online, whether because of convenience, cost or embarrassment – how can you stay safe?
To find out, we spoke with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) who are responsible for making sure that medicines and medical devices sold in the UK are safe and match specific quality standards. They have the power to seize items they believe are being illegally sold, and in recent years they have seized over £50m worth of medicines.
There are certain products that that the MHRA are particularly concerned about, including erectile dysfunction medication, medication being sold as slimming pills and study aids, and medical devices like pregnancy tests and testing kits for sexually transmitted infections. We purchased a selection of these products online and took them to the MHRA for inspection.
A portion of the items we got came without marks or bundling, some were not authorized available to be purchased in the UK or had been pulled back in view of security concerns, and others were professionally prescribed meds being sold without a solution.The consequences of taking products like this could range from it having no effect at all, to it having dangerous side effects and even causing serious harm. We also found that many of home testing kits we ordered did not comply with European and UK standards.
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