A CORONER has issued an urgent warning over buying medication online, after a man died of an accidental overdose from drugs purchased from “illicit”; online pharmacies.
Christopher Brazil, 45, was able to buy prescription “from illegal websites, which depicted themselves as safe, regulated, online pharmacies”; – leading to his death.
Christopher, from Ceredigion in , was left with painful injuries after suffering from an accident “some time before his death”;, according to an inquest report.
The 45-year-old also had – a nerve condition causing sharp, burning pain in the legs – and began struggling with during the .
He’d previously sought help from his GP and been “prescribed some medication for his ailments”;, but Christopher began “self-medicating”; in a bid to manage his pain and poor mental .
He was able to buy sedative medication usually used to help with anxiety and from that appeared to be reputable.
The additional he purchased hadn’t been prescribed by his doctor or the NHS, but soon he was buying and taking them “regularly”;, according to the report.
He even ended up in A&E and in February and April 2022 due to intoxication from the meds, records show.
Christopher passed away in August 2022 of an “inadvertent overdosing”; just months after he started taking the medication bought from fake online pharmacies.
Louisa Corcoran, assistant coroner for Ceredigion, wrote: “Mr Brazil was struggling with physical pain and issues and was susceptible to using this unlawful method, which was quick and readily available.
“On the last order made, the drugs were delivered the next day via .
“Evidence shows that Mr Brazil was not suicidal, but he was anxious to manage pain and was not directed by a healthcare professional as to how much to take and when.”;
Investigations by the and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – the UK’s medicines watchdog – revealed that online pharmacy websites where Christopher had bought his drugs were operated by “unlawful providers”;.
Pharmacy regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), states that legitimate online pharmacies must display the GPhC logo alongside their registration number — this can often be found on the homepage or ‘about us’ section.
People can also check if the pharmacy is legitimate by typing the registration number into GPhC’s pharmacy register on its website.
The coroner said her into the vulnerable 45-year-old’s death raised several matters of concern, leading to her to issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report and send into the online pharmacies in question.
She also sent a copy to the (DHSC), the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the MHRA and the police, urging them to take action.
“There are unregulated and unlawful websites offering prescription only medicines andcontrolled drugs, which look legitimate and are found easily from simple online searches,”; Ms Corcoran noted.
She also noted these illicit providers didn’t have the appropriate checks to verify patients’ medical history before selling the drugs, nor did they provide patients with guidance on how much of the drugs it was safe to take.
There were also “no safeguards to prevent incorrect self-diagnoses or misuse by consumers”;, Ms Corcoran went on.
She feared that minors may be able to access dangerous prescription-strength drugs through such websites, as they didn’t have adequate controls to verify customers’ age and identity.
She warned that such websites made it possible for “vulnerable and susceptible people [to be] exposed to counterfeit or unsafe medications”;.
“The fact that it is possible for unlawful and unethical online pharmaceutical providers tooperate and deliver to the buyer within 24 hours means that these illegal websites may be more appealing to some than lawful sources,”; the coroner added.
The organisations sent the report “have the power”; to “prevent future deaths”;, Ms Corcoran stated.
All of them are required to respond to the report by June 18 this year, detailing actions they’ve taken or will take to mitigate the risks named in the report.
