Ocena wybranych aspektów działalności aptek internetowych w Polsce
2009-01-10
Assessment of some aspects of e-pharmacies in Poland. The problem of safety of internet distribution of medicines has been discussed in the world for a few years. In USA there is a system which certifies e-pharmacies, while in European Union every country has it's own regulations. However in 2003 The Court of Justice of the European Communities held that member state cannot prohibit selling OTC medicines via internet because it is incompatible with the rule in the EEC Treaty. It does not concern medicines prescribed by professional. Ordering the medicines by mail was prohibited in Poland by march 2007 and now it is permitted. The aims was to determine quality of advice in the e-pharmacies in Poland and to compare prices between e-pharmacies and community pharmacies. 38 websites were identified. To all, an e-mail with question was send. Prices from 25 e-pharmacies was were compared with prices from 12 randomly selected local pharmacies from Krakow. Quality of advising of internet pharmacies is low. Average prices in e-pharmacies are lower than in the local, but not more than 20%. Quality of advising in e-pharmacies is very low. The medications in e-pharmacies are cheaper, but e-pharmacies charge for delivering, what makes their prices the same as in community pharmacies.
