Concern in the health industry over the flow of Australians buying prescription drugs from unregulated sites overseas will be highlighted Monday -- International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
MBF Health Fund general manager of public affairs, David Jones, told ZDNet Australia that a number of claims for drugs purchased from overseas sites have been submitted from MBF members. Jones said more worrying was the increasing number of enquiries MBF was getting about what benefits were available for medicines bought over the Internet.
Concerned that such medicines may not have been evaluated by appropriate authorities in Australia and as a means to discourage its members from inappropriate self-medication, MBF has recently notified its members that claims made for such drugs would be rejected.
"We think it's important that prescription medicine should be done in consultation with a doctor -- there are risks involved with self diagnosis," Jones said.
During an interview with ZDNet Australia, Australian Medical Association New South Wales branch counsellor Dr John Gullotta said there are two main problems with drugs purchased from overseas sites.
Firstly, whether or not they are authentic pharmaceutical goods: "You don't know what you're taking," Gullotta stressed.
Gullotta said a patient of his had purchased Viagra over the Internet and got sugar tablets in return. "They were effectively inactive and there is no way to trace the supplier. You don't know who owns the site. All you have is a PO box somewhere in Florida," Gullotta warned.
Furthermore, Gullotta said that it is too easy to get the approval for drugs from overseas sites which often lure individuals by selling fad-type tablets such as Viagra and the weight loss tablet Xenical.
"The Internet can't see you, by lying you can easily abuse the system," said Gullotta, who claims to have acquired drugs online by giving false information. "There wasn't even a signature required at the point of delivery. There is no security whatsoever," Gullotta enforced.
Although such drugs may be regulated in Australia, individuals often don't qualify for them on medical grounds or are enticed to the sites as a way to avoid embarrassing consultations. Special discounts habitually offered at sites are an extra incentive to buy and may include a free packet of pills for each packet bought, for example.
The Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (APMA) agreed that it is important that patients are counselled properly. "Buying medication over the Internet has a range of adverse consequences. It may interact with whatever else they are taking," an APMA spokesperson said.
However, the spokesperson stressed that there is no way to monitor how many Australians are caught up in this market or what quantities of such drugs are being imported into Australia.
Australia's Customs and Excise said it's impossible to determine how the pharmaceutical goods coming into Australia have been bought. "Customs tries to tell people to be aware of what they order over the Internet because it may not be legal," but monitoring the sale of Internet drugs is way out of customs jurisdiction, a spokesperson stressed.
A spokeswoman for the Minister of Health and Aged Care, Dr Michael Wooldridge, said although Australian sites are not allowed to provide this sort of service, the Government could not regulate the sale of drugs on overseas Web sites. "You will always get someone somewhere selling these things," the spokeswoman said.
