Circulation of COVID-19-Related Medicines on Japanese Websites during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Quality and Authenticity.

ABSTRACT: Substandard and falsified medical products for treating COVID-19 have spread worldwide. These medicines have entered Japan through personal importation of products purchased via the Internet. In this study, we investigated the circulation of 19 COVID-19-related medicines on the Internet in Japan and evaluated the pharmaceutical quality and authenticity of 2 medicines (dexamethasone tablets and ivermectin tablets) obtained online. We purchased 23 samples of 0.5-mg dexamethasone tablets and 13 samples of 3-mg ivermectin tablets from the Internet in December 2020 and July 2022. We investigated the quality and authenticity of the obtained samples through visual observation and tested their authenticity. We conducted pharmacopoeia compliance testing (quantitative assay, content uniformity tests

SUBMITTER: Zhu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11542516 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature