Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Dec 09, 2021)
Date Submitted: Mar 1, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Facebook as a source of access to medicines.
ABSTRACT
Background:
Over the last decade, we’ve observed an enormous social media development, which have recently become commercial services.
Objective:
The objective was to verify Facebook as a source of pharmaceuticals offers. We also intended to identify prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines if available on that platform.
Methods:
The study was conducted from January 2019 to July 2020. We investigated offers of pharmaceuticals posted on the Polish Facebook (individual posts and communities) between 2016 and 2019. Medicines were divided into Rx and OTC brands and in accordance with their possible therapeutic use. We verified whether the medicines were for sale, to exchange, or available for free. Posts and groups were investigated for example by entering the phrase “for free,” followed by a city in Poland.
Results:
Out of 409 offers, 380 (92.91%) concerned Rx brands and 29 OTC brands. 315 (77.02%) medications were available “for free”. In 47 (11.49%) cases, an “exchange” was expected, and 47 (11.49%) announcements were marked as “for sale”. Cardiovascular medicines (n=125) were the most popular. There were also antidiabetics (n=38) and antipsychotics (n=28). We also found clear candidates for misuse. These were opioids (n=7), benzodiazepines (n=2 )as well as clomifene (n=1) and letrozole (n=1).
Conclusions:
Facebook is a significant source of uncontrolled access to medicines. The majority of offers concerned Rx brands, including opioids and benzodiazepines. Medicines offered on Facebook are mainly accessible for free, and the scope and the number of medicines offered on Facebook should make this issue a hazardous phenomenon.
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