UK doctors are warning about the risks of buying drugs online, saying patients could be taking serious health risks. A team of doctors from Sunderland, UK, said it is not uncommon for drugs bought online to be counterfeit.
In a letter to the medical journal, The Lancet, they stress that even if you do get the drug with the proper active ingredients, there is a risk of drug interactions and side effects.
(Drug interaction = The action that one drug has on the effect, metabolism or toxicity of another drug.)
In the letter, Philip Severn and Scott Fraser quote the case of a 64-year-old woman who bought oral steroids prednisolone online from an online pharmaceutical company in Thailand after diagnosing herself with chronic fatigue syndrome. She had been taking the steroids for four years. During the last six months she began to notice her vision was failing. She eventually went to the accident and emergency department of the Sunderland Royal Infirmary in February 2006. After being examined by doctors she was found to have glaucoma and cataracts, which they say was caused by the steroids. The woman had no past or family history of eye disease.
The doctors concluded that ?The expansion of the internet is relentless and, from the perspective of patients seeking information, in the main positive. However, the online availability of controlled and uncontrolled drug therapies needs to be carefully monitored.?
Bilateral cataracts and glaucoma induced by long-term use of oral prednisolone bought over the internet
Severn PS, Fraser SG
The Lancet – Vol. 368, Issue 9535, 12 August 2006, Page 618
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today