NZ warns doctors about Internet medicines

The authorities in New Zealand have issued advice for doctors asked to write prescriptions for medicines bought over the Internet and held at the country’s border.

Medsafe (the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority) says in the guidance document that the Internet is becoming a “significant resource” for patients seeking prescription medicines.

The medicines are generally ordered by people from online pharmacies claiming to be based in the USA or Canada, and typically are intercepted by New Zealand Customs and passed to Medsafe for inspection.

Ordering medicines over the Internet is legal under New Zealand law, provided there is a ‘reasonable excuse’ for the activity. A patient who has a valid doctor’s prescription can claim to have met that criteria, noted Medsafe.

“Last year approximately 11,000 parcels containing 17,000 medicines were inspected by Medsafe; it is estimated that up to 30 per cent of these medicines may have been ordered over the internet,” said the agency.

When these medicines are held at the New Zealand border prescribers are usually asked to provide a prescription to enable their release, says Medsafe.

The agency has asked prescribers to take the following questions into account when writing prescriptions for these products:

• Is this patient under your care?
• Is the medicine, dose and quantity appropriate for the patient?
• Is the patient aware of the risks of using medicines purchased over the internet?
• Are you willing to take on the responsibility for prescribing your patient an unapproved medicine that is likely to be of unknown quality and origin?

It cites one recent example in which testing revealed four undeclared active ingredients in one product ordered over the Internet.