"Article 121 of the Law on Medicines provides for this possibility upon Montenegro's accession to the EU. This is an article with deferred application. Persons engaged in pharmacy activities will be able, upon meeting certain conditions, to sell OTC medicines, i.e. medicines that are dispensed without a doctor's prescription, via the internet and websites that will be standardized and adequately labeled," said the head of the laboratory at the Institute for Medicines and Medical Devices, Dr. David Kocovic.
While we await strictly controlled standards from the European Union, the grey area of the Internet is flourishing. It is alarming that as many as 50 percent of medicines offered on unauthorized websites are counterfeit. The line between original and copy has become almost invisible.
"Visually, it is very difficult to make a difference, especially today with the development of technology and the emergence of artificial intelligence, it is very difficult to make a difference between a counterfeit and an original medicine. Of course, there are also those primitive cases when we can make an assumption that it is a counterfeit medicine due to design errors or missing data on the primary and secondary packaging," says Kočović.
Behind the tempting advertisements and lower prices lies Russian roulette with health. The consequences of consuming dubious preparations can lead to serious problems, warns Kočović.
“U zavisnosti o kakvom slučaju govorimo, tj. da li ovaj proizvod ima manji ili veći sadržaj aktivne substance, tada govorimo o neadekvatnoj terapiji. Kad postoje slučajevi koji nemaju aktivnu substancu, onda dolazimo do izostanka terapije i oni najopasniji su zapravo slučajevi kada imamo neke substance koje su integrisane u ove proizvode, a predstavljaju rizik po zdravlje pa i život pacijenta“, naglasio je Kočović.
Crno tržište nije nasumično – ono targetira najranjivije grupe i aktuelne trendove. Kako ističe Kočović, zabrinjava pomama za ljekovima koji su postali viralni na društvenim mrežama, a koji se često zloupotrebljavaju u svrhe mršavljenja bez nadzora ljekara.
“Ako govorimo o tržištu poput našeg, u smislu tržištima sličnim našem tržištu, tada govorimo o ljekovima hormonima, anaboličkim steroidima, kortikosteroidima, analgeticima, anksioliticima, botulinum toksinima, poznatim kao Botox ili ono što je sada u trendu su GLP1 injekcioni penovi koji se koriste za ličenje dijebetesa, a nalaze primjenu, tj. zlopotrebu, u cilju smanjenja tjelesne mase“, navodi Kočović.
Ljekovi sa društvenih mreža ili sumnjivih oglasa ostaju opasna nepoznanica. Dok god internet nudi sve bez filtera, struka ostaje kategorična: jedina sigurna adresa za zdravlje građana je registrovana apoteka, gdje svaki proizvod prolazi strogu kontrolu prije nego što stigne u ruke pacijenata.
