Hanine Estephan
Harvard University T-Chan School of Public Health, UK
Title: Safety of online digital pharmacy providers: a review analysis across the United Kingdom and France
Biography
Biography: Hanine Estephan
Abstract
Online pharmacies enabled consumers to obtain prescription medications with a click of a button. While some countries such as UK and US are trying to regulate these providers, France decided to ban them.
A systematic review was carried out to assess the level of safety and effectiveness of these online providers in the UK, and France. Electronic searches were conducted to identify active legal and illegal providers in these two countries. Multiple databases were searched including: pubmed, Care Quality Commission online database, general pharmaceutical council, and DREES (des données de la Direction de la recherche, des études, de l'évaluation et des statistiques (DREES).
Results: 56 online providers were identified as active in the UK and an additional 3 were illegally serving the French market. The initial analysis revealed that 15 of these online providers were found unsafe.
Recommendations: Our analysis suggests that existing regulations should be revised; ongoing frequent inspection is to be advised and stricter control measures should be implemented to ensure the delivery of safe and effective services. Providers offering high quality and safe services should be further promoted and rewarded.
Keywords: online pharmacy, safety and effectiveness of online medications, systematic review