Schifano Fabrizio, Deluca Paolo, Baldacchino Alex
Division of Mental Health-Addictive Behaviour, St. George's, University of London, United Kingdom.
Cyberpsychol Behav. 2006 Aug;9(4):404-9. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2006.9.404.
Online pharmacies are increasingly common, and some of them have been reported to inappropriately supply prescription-only medicines. Dextropropoxyphene-containing compounds are addictive and frequently implicated in fatalities occurring in the United Kingdom. We aimed here at assessing the online availability of dextropropoxyphene for purchase over a time-span of 2 years (September 2003-August 2005). A Google search was run in September 2003 using different sets of keywords and the first 100 links identified were thoroughly assessed. In March 2005, the same e-pharmacies websites identified at baseline were accessed again and a Google search using the same sets of keywords previously used was run as well. Furthermore, a specialized search with Froogle was run both in March and August 2005. Although an illegal practice in most countries, a number of websites willing to sell the compound internationally were identified at the time of the baseline search. In March 2005, the Google search for vending websites identified 361,000 links, compared with 40,000 18 months before. Only half of dextropropoxyphene vending e-pharmacies were still active by March 2005 but, at that point in time, access to Froogle apparently facilitated the task of online dextropropoxyphene purchase. By August 2005, however, the same Froogle search identified only one link aimed at online dextropropoxyphene shopping. In the United Kingdom, dextropropoxyphene-related products will be withdrawn later this year but this may have only limited impact on the availability of the compound. The emergence of Internet as an unregulated source of controlled substances is an important development that may have significant public health implications. This issue needs to be dealt with at both international and national level.
在线药店越来越普遍，据报道，其中一些药店存在不当供应仅凭处方销售药品的情况。含右丙氧芬的化合物具有成瘾性，且在英国经常导致死亡事件。我们旨在评估在2年时间跨度（2003年9月至2005年8月）内右丙氧芬在网上的可购性。2003年9月，使用不同的关键词组合在谷歌上进行搜索，并对所识别出的前100个链接进行了全面评估。2005年3月，再次访问在基线时识别出的相同电子药店网站，并使用之前相同的关键词组合在谷歌上进行搜索。此外，在2005年3月和8月还使用Froogle进行了专门搜索。尽管在大多数国家这是一种非法行为，但在基线搜索时发现了一些愿意在国际上销售该化合物的网站。2005年3月，谷歌对售卖网站的搜索识别出361,000个链接，而18个月前为40,000个。到2005年3月，只有一半的售卖右丙氧芬的电子药店仍在运营，但在那个时间点，访问Froogle显然便利了在线购买右丙氧芬的任务。然而，到2005年8月，同样的Froogle搜索仅识别出一个指向在线右丙氧芬购物的链接。在英国，与右丙氧芬相关的产品将于今年晚些时候退市，但这可能对该化合物的可得性影响有限。互联网成为不受监管的管制物质来源这一情况的出现是一个重要发展，可能对公众健康产生重大影响。这个问题需要在国际和国家层面加以解决。
