129 - that's how many proceedings concerning pharmaceutical offenses related to the illegal trading of medicines the General Pharmaceutical Inspectorate has been involved in over the past months. Of the notices of suspicion of crime sent by the GIF, as well as reports forwarded to the prosecutor's office and law enforcement agencies, the most frequent cases concern the sale of drugs over the Internet and the issuance of falsified e-prescriptions.
Illegal drug trafficking
GIF notifies downloading authorities on diabetes drugs used for weight reduction, among others
Published July 24, 2023 09:52
Źródło: GIF
Cases over the past nine months of illegal sales of medicines through online stores and social networks most often involved agents not authorized for marketing in Poland and so-called parapharmaceuticals, i.e. products illegally attributed to the properties of a drug, such as food products, herbal preparations, dietary supplements, plant protection products, products of so-called natural medicine, minerals, parts or secretions of animals.
The infamous place in the forefront of drugs illegally offered over the Internet is occupied by medicinal products containing psychotropic substances or narcotics in their composition, such as CBD oils, hemp products, products containing THC, HHC, HHC-O.
Notifications sent by the GIF to the downloading authorities also concerned the online sale of adulterated drugs (e.g., for potency or erectile dysfunction) or products of unknown origin for use against indications. Examples include drugs registered for use in the treatment of diabetes used for weight reduction.
A popular group of drugs illegally offered for sale online are products containing botulinum toxin, lidocaine, tetracaine and benzocaine, used in cosmetic and aesthetic medicine procedures.
The GIF has sent 19 notices of reasonable suspicion of crimes and more than 20 requests to the Prosecutor's Office or the Police for a criminal legal evaluation of the described facts or the collected evidence. The Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector also participated in more than 50 pre-trial proceedings conducted by the Prosecutor's Office and other law enforcement agencies. On an ongoing basis, he cooperates with the Police, the CBŚP, the Military Police, the Border Guard, providing legal assistance in the course of preparatory proceedings (40 responses provided).
In parallel, the GIF is analyzing on an ongoing basis offers with medicinal products on popular Internet sales platforms. Representatives of one of the most popular online sales platforms, after a meeting with the GIF, pledged to develop a technological solution to proactively search for drug offers issued through it. The tool is expected to analyze offers on an ongoing basis and, if a product on the Register of Medicinal Products is detected, automatically take the offer in question off the platform.
Source: GIF
