Comment: let’s not worry about fake online drugs

Screenshot of Google search results for 'buy viagra'Comment on article: “Let’s Not Worry About Fake Online Drugs

This interesting article by Felix Salmon deals with a research paper entitled “In Whom We Trust: The Role of Certification Agencies in Online Drug Markets”.

Research carried out in the US by Roger Bate, Ginger Zhe Jin and Aparna Mathur, and published in March 2012 concluded that, apart from Viagra bought from completely unregulated overseas websites, other medicines bought online were likely to be 100% genuine.

Researchers tested the authenticity of 370 samples bought from 41 online pharmacies, both regulated and unregulated, and found that they were all genuine, except for Viagra bought from a minority of completely unregulated overseas sites. Read in full

Viagra – the drug that changed the world

Pack of Viagra

Viagra was developed and is marketed by the Pfizer pharmaceutical company and has been available for use since 1998. The active ingredient is Sildenafil citrate, a PDE5 inhibitor, which increases the flow of blood to the penis to aid men suffering from erectile dysfunction (impotence) achieve and maintain an erection.

Since it was introduced to the market in 1998 the rise of Viagra has been a worldwide phenomenon, helping millions of men suffering from erectile dysfunction and also spawning similar drugs and many third world counterfeit suppliers.

It was the drug that transformed the sexual landscape. Before Viagra, impotence meant shame and often the collapse of all but the most committed relationships. The discovery of its startling ability to restore men’s faded sexual function triggered a social revolution as monumental as that caused by the contraceptive pill.

Ten years on: it’s time to count the cost of the Viagra revolution, The Guardian, 24 February 2008
Read in full