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Online Sale of Pharmaceuticals: Liberalization of EU Law in the Context of Transnational Criminal Law

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Digital Development of the European Union

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Abstract

This research offers a critical review of the relevance and influence of the liberalization of EU law concerning the online sale of pharmaceuticals in the context of transnational criminal law.

The Internet has enabled and accelerated the distribution of a class of drugs called substandard, spurious, falsely labeled, falsified, and counterfeit medicines (SSFFC) through online sales. This situation exposes many unsuspecting individuals to enormous public health risks. Both individuals and widespread criminal networks are involved. Both the buyers and the purveyors of illicit medications and pharmaceutical ingredients contribute to this problem. The liberalization of pharmaceutical sales in the digital marketplace has contributed to the growth of pharmaceutical crime and provided expedients through which criminal groups have circumvented liability.

Several steps would help mitigate these risks at national, regional, and international levels. These include improving control and verification mechanisms for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and raw pharmaceutical materials supplied in the EU, toughening the penalties for criminal distribution of SSFFCs, and educating the population at large about their dangers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    To note, antimicrobial resistance only can lead to 10 million deaths per year by 2050 (Breman, 2019).

  2. 2.

    Within the first e-commerce dated in 1970s, access to both legitimate and illegal medications increased drastically in the USA (Power, 2013) and later in the UK (George, 2006).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Melita Sogomonjan

  2. Neurosurgery at Mayo School of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN, USA

    Teodoro Forcht Dagi

  3. Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK

    Teodoro Forcht Dagi

Authors
  1. Melita Sogomonjan
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  2. Teodoro Forcht Dagi
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Correspondence to Melita Sogomonjan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jean Monnet Chair on Digital Europe and Future Integration, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    David Ramiro Troitiño

  2. Department of law, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tanel Kerikmäe

  3. Faculty of Law, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    Ondrej Hamuľák

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Sogomonjan, M., Forcht Dagi, T. (2023). Online Sale of Pharmaceuticals: Liberalization of EU Law in the Context of Transnational Criminal Law. In: Ramiro Troitiño, D., Kerikmäe, T., Hamuľák, O. (eds) Digital Development of the European Union. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27312-4_4

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