ReviewBritish medical bulletin2016
Digital danger: a review of the global public health, patient safety and cybersecurity threats posed by illicit online pharmacies.
Review in British medical bulletin, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed.
- Quality evaluation of online platforms information for retail of prescription medicines in China: an observational study of the case of paroxetine.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2026Observational
- Readiness for Provision of Online Pharmaceutical Services by Retail Pharmacies in Kampala Metropolitan Area, Uganda.Integrated pharmacy research & practice · 2026Article
- Telepharmacy Consultations (TPCs) in Local Pharmacies-A Bi-Centric Survey of Customer Opinions.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Building an Ethical Framework for European Pharmacists in e-Pharmacies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- A qualitative exploration of consumers' views and experiences toward online pharmacies: Narrative from a developing country.PloS one · 2025Article
- Examining older adults' vulnerability to online health scams: insights from routine activity theory.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Vietnamese people's behavior and future intention to purchase medicines and functional foods on the internet: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Unravelling the shift: exploring consumers' adoption or resistance of E-Pharmacy through behavioural reasoning theory.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Facilitators, Barriers, and Potential Impacts of Implementation of e-Pharmacy in India and its Potential Impact on Cost, Quality, and Access to Medicines: Scoping Review.Online journal of public health informatics · 2024Article
- Economic barriers to prevent the smuggling of health goods in Iran.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Search Engines and Generative Artificial Intelligence Integration: Public Health Risks and Recommendations to Safeguard Consumers Online.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Exploring pharmacists' perspectives about substandard and falsified medical products through interviews.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024Article
- Is This Safe? Examining Safety Assessments of Illicit Drug Purchasing on Social Media Using Conjoint Analysis.Substance use & misuse · 2024Article
- What influences consumers' online medication purchase intentions and behavior? A scoping review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Editorial: Internet pharmacies and the online pharmacy market: trends, perspectives and challenges.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Practices, perceptions and trust of the public regarding online drug purchasing: a web-based survey from Jordan.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Illicit Online Pharmacies: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- News Media Coverage of the Problem of Purchasing Fake Prescription Medicines on the Internet: Thematic Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Reasons That Lead People to End Up Buying Fake Medicines on the Internet: Qualitative Interview Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Trends in digital detection for the quality and safety of herbs using infrared and Raman spectroscopy.Frontiers in plant science · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAmidst the rise of e-commerce, there has been a proliferation of illicit online pharmacies that threaten global patient safety by selling drugs without a prescription directly to the consumer. Despite this clear threat, little is known about the key risk characteristics, central challenges and current legal, regulatory and law enforcement responses. SOURCES OF DATA: A review was conducted of the English literature with search terms 'online pharmacies', 'Internet pharmacies', 'cyber pharmacies', 'rogue pharmacies', and 'e-pharmacies' using PubMed, JSTOR, and Google Scholar from 1999-2005. AREAS OF AGREEMENT: Illicit online pharmacies are a rapidly growing public health threat and are characterized by a number of complex and interrelated risk factors. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY: Solutions are varied and are of questionable utility in the face of evolving technology that enables this form of transnational cybercrime. GROWING POINTS: Legal, regulatory and technology solutions must address the entire illicit online pharmacy ecosystem in order to be effective. AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH: There is a critical need to build international consensus, conduct additional research and develop technology to combat illicit online pharmacies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.