Health officials warn that people in Scotland are playing Russian roulette with their lives by taking prescription medicines they’ve ordered on the black market from China or Russia. There is no way to know if these drugs are real or counterfeit, and some of them can sicken or kill.
According to Scottish police, they seized more than 500,000 doses of black market drugs in 2023 alone. What they seized is worth about $1.5 million, but police believe a much larger number of doses make it to private post boxes and into patients. Some of the most commonly ordered drugs include those used to treat breast cancer, insomnia, pain, and anxiety.
The websites that sell these illegal drugs are often run by gangs originating in China or Russia, while the drugs themselves are usually made in China or India.
Scottish member of parliament Sue Webber called it “terrifying” that so many Scottish citizens are putting their health and lives at risk from “unlicensed drugs.” She said the Scottish National Party (SNP) has to step up and take on the “scourge of counterfeit drugs” as well as do more to help people addicted to painkillers and tranquilizers.
Other drugs seized included some of the newest types of injectable weight loss drugs, anabolic steroids, epilepsy medications, and extremely strong psychiatric drugs like antipsychotics.
It can be impossible for customers to tell if the drugs are legitimate, starting with the fact that the black market sites are designed by criminals to look just like legitimate pharmacies. And once the medicines arrive, how would you know what was real and what was fake? While it is possible to look up images of common brand-name and generic medicines online, it’s also possible for fraudsters to manufacture tablets that look just like the real thing.
Why are Scots turning to the black market? No one is certain, but lengthy waiting periods to be seen by a doctor under the UK’s socialized medicine system may be part of the problem.
