The pharmaceutical regulatory agency Finnish Medicines Agency or Fimea has warned individuals against giving away or trading left over or unused drugs.
“Medicines such as birth control pills are for personal use and no one should use medication that is prescribed for someone else. Medicine should be procured from a pharmacy and in some areas health centres or nurses may distribute a patient’s first set of birth control pills,” said Sami Paaskoski a senior pharmaceutical inspector with Fimea.
Paaskoski said that he had himself also encountered notices in social media offering prescription drugs for sale or barter.
“Of course in the first place, only pharmacies can sell medicines. It’s illegal for private individuals to sell prescription medicines. At the worst we are talking about a drug violation,” he warned.
No harsh measures so far
According to Paaskoski the cases of illegal second hand drug trading that have come to light so far, have been dealt with in a spirit of cooperation with the persons behind the notices, who have been asked to remove the offending offers. The would-be traders have also been advised on how best to dispose of unused medication.
“In such small-scale cases, no punitive action has been taken as far as I know, although drug violations carry a fine,” Paaskoski concluded.
