By Jill Stein
LYON, France -- November 20, 2009 -- New data show that while men commonly perceive the purchase of prescription-only medications (POMs) without a prescription as risky, about 10% do so anyway.
The data are from a survey released on November 18 at the 12th Congress of the European Society of Sexual Medicine (ESSM).
Ian Banks, MD, European Men's Health at Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, United Kingdom, and colleagues analysed responses to an Internet questionnaire that aimed to determine attitudes and behaviour towards counterfeit medication.
The sale of counterfeit medications worldwide is on the rise, Dr. Banks observed. In the European Union, for example, counterfeit seizures increased 384% between 2005 and 2006, with an additional 51% increase in 2007, he said.
The 935 men who completed the survey were aged 35 years or older and living in a major city in the United Kingdom.
Results showed that 52% rated taking a POM without a prescription as very risky, 3% rated it as not at all risky, and 45% said it had a neutral risk.
Many men believed that familiar POMs, including sildenafil citrate, are legally available without requiring a prescription.
Of respondents who purchased/considered purchasing POMs without a prescription, 31% would research "numerous [Web] sites and go with the most professional-looking one."
Only about a fourth of those surveyed thought that POMs sold without a prescription are fake/counterfeit; however, about three-fourths reported that the possibility of a medication being counterfeit would have a large impact on their likelihood of purchasing without a prescription.
Overall, 101 men reported obtaining POMs without a prescription. These men were younger compared with men in the overall group and tended to perceive no risk to buying a POM with a prescription. Fifty percent said they had purchased their POM at UK and overseas websites.
Medications for smoking cessation (42%) and erectile dysfunction (36%) were the POMs most obtained without a prescription. Other POMs commonly obtained without a prescription included antidepressants, weight loss medications, and cholesterol-lowering medications.
Counterfeit medications are associated with multiple risks, Dr. Banks cautioned. Direct risks include unknown pharmaceutically active ingredients and/or impurities, possibly leading to serious adverse effects, dosage variability or mislabelling, which may lead to overdose. There are also difficulties or even danger when treating possible adverse events from unknown ingredients, he said.
Funding for this study was provided by Pfizer Inc.
[Presentation title: Consumer Attitudes Towards Counterfeit Medications. Abstract PO-05-005]
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