THOUSANDS OF illegal imports of medicinal tablets and creams that had been ordered over the internet were seized by the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) last year.
A total of 88,279 tablets, 106,443 capsules, 22.5 litres of liquids and 40kg of creams were among the items seized.
These included antidepressants, prescription-level vitamins, antibiotics, weight-loss products, skin-lightening products and erectile dysfunction formulations, including Viagra, which were about to be delivered to patients without a prescription.
In a small number of cases, the products seized were counterfeit medicines.
The board released the data yesterday when outlining details of its activities in 2007.
It initiated 1,397 investigations for breaches of medicinal product legislation, almost treble the number of investigations commenced in 2006. Most of these were in relation to the illegal importation of medicines ordered over the internet or by mail order, but some also related to the sale of products here. Six shops were prosecuted for selling more than one packet of paracetamol in one transaction, while there were two successful prosecutions for the supply of anabolic steroids by mail order.
The board, which licenses and monitors the safety of all medicines on the Irish market, also evaluated 1,751 reports of adverse reactions to drugs last year.
Most of these reports – some 964 of them – were made by those marketing the drugs, while 206 reports were made by GPs, 172 by hospital doctors, 89 by hospital pharmacists, 71 by community care doctors, 70 by community pharmacists, 67 by nurses and 54 by patients. Another 44 were made by those involved in clinical trials and seven were made by dentists. Adverse reactions reported “ranged from minor to serious”.
The board’s chief executive Pat O’Mahony said it had developed an online mechanism for reporting any suspected adverse reactions or quality defects directly to it.