International operation tackles illegal Internet medicines

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was at the forefront of an international operation, codenamed Pangea, in conjunction with INTERPOL and eight regulatory agencies worldwide to tackle the illegal sale and supply of unlicensed or prescription-only medicines sold over the Internet.

Operation Pangea was co-ordinated by the Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime, INTERPOL and the WHO's International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT). It is the first time that action has been taken on an international scale with participating countries including Canada, Germany, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

MHRA investigators visited 12 residential and commercial addresses in the UK relating to seven Internet sites, where they seized more than a thousand packs of unlicensed medicines, a number of computers and related documentation. In addition, all of the UK website Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been contacted to close down the infringing websites and in one case to seek compliance by removing the illegal products.

"People can be at considerable risk if they buy medicines from illegal websites. A medicine bought in this way has no guarantee that it is safe or effective," said Danny Lee-Frost, head of operations at the MHRA. "Our action in the UK should serve as a stark warning to those who are engaged in any way with supplying medicines illegally."

Tackling the illegal sale and supply of medicines over the Internet is a priority for the MHRA. There are currently 52 live investigations that have an internet connection where medicines legislation has been potentially breached and 10 such cases are currently with lawyers pending prosecution.