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. 2025 Oct 6:16:1625826.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1625826. eCollection 2025.

The online purchase of medicines - an international pharmacists' perspective

Tomasz Zaprutko #  1 , Krzysztof Kus  1 , Yuliia Kremin  2 , Bohdan Hromovyk  2 , Hristina Lebanova  3 , Dušanka Miloša Krajnović  4 , Ivana Stević  4 , Emilija Simić  4   5 , Kateryna Dorykevych  2 , Julia Cynar  6 , Wiktor Eliasz  7 , Afonso Miguel Cavaco  8
Affiliations

The online purchase of medicines - an international pharmacists' perspective

Tomasz Zaprutko et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Background: Accessibility and affordability of medicines are key for patients' effective treatment. However, drug prices are soaring, and patients are looking for cheaper medications in Europe and beyond. This study aimed to evaluate European pharmacists' perceptions and attitudes about the impact of global inflation and the military conflict setting in Ukraine on patients' buying medicines behaviours. A secondary objective comprised the problem of buying medicines from illegal online sources like social media or non-regulated marketplaces.

Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2023 to April 2024 using an anonymous and self-designed questionnaire consisting of 11 questions. The survey was created using Google Forms. The survey link was shared mostly by e-mail amongst practising pharmacists from five European countries.

Results: Events of the recent years, such as inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, or the war in Ukraine were perceived by the pharmacists as contributing to patients looking for better medicines prices, mostly related to online purchases. The most important factors influencing online purchase of medicines beyond price were convenience of shopping anytime, and fast and free delivery. There is a perceived growing interest in buying medicines from online facilities other than e-pharmacies, such as local websites, social media or global marketplaces (e.g., aliexpress.com). Pharmacists do not actively inform their patients about the possible risks of buying medicines from unverified online sources.

Conclusion: International disruptions seem to contribute to patients' looking for better prices of medicines. There is a need for societal education about the risks related to the possibility of counterfeited medicines online, as well as pharmacists' training to prioritize patient information and counselling on the hazards of medication acquisition from non e-pharmacies. There is an urgent need for global amendments to the pharmaceutical law to protect patients from illegal e-sources of medicines while keeping in-person services and offline purchases.

Keywords: affordability and accessibility of medicines; medicines; online access; pharmacists; questionnaire.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The most popular criteria for buying medicines online. BG–Bulgaria, PL–Poland, PT–Portugal, RS–Serbia, UA–Ukraine. *Serbia–if it would be legally allowed to buy medicines online.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Sources of access to medicines in the case of drug shortages. BG–Bulgaria, PL–Poland, PT–Portugal, RS–Serbia, UA–Ukraine. *Serbia–if it would be legally allowed to buy medicines online.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The alternative online sources of access to medicines. BG–Bulgaria, PL–Poland, PT–Portugal, RS–Serbia, UA–Ukraine.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The sources of consultancy services during online shopping. BG–Bulgaria, PL–Poland, PT–Portugal, RS–Serbia, UA–Ukraine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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