Health risks related to illegal and on-line sale of drugs and food supplements: results of a survey on marketed products in Italy from 2011 to 2013
Health risks related to illegal and on-line sale of drugs and food supplements: results of a survey on marketed products in Italy from 2011 to 2013
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DOI：
10.4415/ann_16_01_21
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发表时间：
2016-01-01
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Valvo, Luisa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Gaudiano, Maria Cristina;Manna, Livia;Valvo, Luisa
目标.非法和网上药品和食品补充剂市场的不断扩大，助长了有害的假冒和违禁产品在发达国家消费者中的广泛传播。这项调查的目的是描述公职人员认识到的主要欺诈行为，以及发现非法或假冒药品和食品违禁品。对警察部队在非法市场上发现的或由意大利海关当局缉获的药品和食品补充剂进行目视检查和分析，以评估其质量和其他未申报物质的存在。目视检查和化学分析显示，包装不当（大多数情况下缺乏足够的消费者信息），不存在申报的活性物质，存在未申报的活性物质。发现含有兴奋剂、违禁物质和活性成分的产品需要医学监督。目前的工作证实了假设从互联网和非法供应链购买药品有关的健康风险，并证明了与声称只含有“天然成分”的食品补充剂中存在药物活性成分有关的对消费者安全的新威胁。
Objectives. The increasing illegal and on-line market of medicines and food supplements is helping the widespread diffusion of harmful counterfeit and forbidden products among consumers of developed countries. The objectives of this survey were the description of the main frauds recognized by public officers and the detection of illegal or counterfeit drugs and food supplements.Methods. Medicines and food supplements found by Police forces on the illegal market or resulting from seizures made by Italian Customs authorities were visually inspected and analysed to evaluate their quality and the presence of other undeclared substances.Results. The visual inspection and the chemical analysis revealed unsuitable packaging ( mostly lacking of adequate information for consumers), absence of the declared active substances and presence of undeclared active substances. Products containing doping agents, illegal substances and active ingredients requiring medical supervision were found.Conclusion. The present work confirmed the health risk associated with assumption of medicines purchased on the Internet and from the illegal supply chain and evidenced a new threat to consumer safety related to the presence of pharmaceutical active ingredients in food supplements claiming to contain only "natural ingredients".