A month after legalizing the online sale of drugs in France, pharmacists in this country have counted more than 40 websites that offer the sale of medical specifics without authorization, informs the weekly “Le Nouvel Observateur” on its website.
The sale of drugs via the Internet is allowed on the Seine from the entry into force of the new regulations on July 12 this year. As a result, French patients can now, also electronically, buy about 4. medicines included in the official list. Prescription drugs are not licensed, so selling them online remains illegal.
The French National Council of the Pharmacists’ Association warns that for a month now the number of websites on the Web offering illegally various specifics has been growing at an exponential rate.
“When we reported (against illegal e-pharmacies), we counted 11 of them; now there are over 40 of them and we have no illusions that this curve will rise, “said Jacques Fortuit, vice president of the Council, quoted by Le Nouvel Observateur.
The clues suggest that many of these electronic pharmacies are not based in France at all, but in neighboring countries – Spain and Belgium, or even in Our Country.
As pharmacists warn, these sites tempt customers with low prices, and, contrary to French regulations, offer postal delivery of prescription-only drugs.
According to French media, many of these online pharmacies focus on offering drugs to stimulate sexual activity.
According to the daily Le Parisien, one of these illegal sites, for example, offers generic Viagra for EUR 0,73 per pill, while in a legal pharmacy the same product costs around EUR 15.
The French Ministry of Health has warned that drugs purchased in illegal online stores can be dangerous to your health. The list of officially approved “e-pharmacies” in France is available on the website of this department. (PAP)
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