The Partnership for Safe Medicines—a public health group comprised of over 45 nonprofits—has issued a warning about unregulated pharmaceuticals for sale on the Ecommerce website Etsy. The organization said the products are a clear violation of Etsy’s policies and represent a serious public health threat.
“Etsy is an online marketplace founded in 2005 that most people associate with vintage and handcrafted items,” the Partnership for Safe Medicines said in a release.1 “However, there is also a thriving trade in chemicals on the site, including those sold to individuals seeking homemade versions of highly regulated pharmaceuticals.”
Key Takeaways
- The Partnership for Safe Medicines has raised concerns about the sale of unregulated pharmaceuticals on Etsy, highlighting the serious public health threat posed by these products.
- Despite Etsy's association with vintage and handcrafted items, the platform hosts a thriving trade in chemicals, including those intended to mimic highly regulated pharmaceuticals.
- A research team identified several categories of concern, including do-it-yourself injectables, miscellaneous supplies, unapproved foreign medications, and raw chemicals and precursors. Of particular concern was the sale of purported semaglutide, a drug in short supply.
Researchers from the public health group conducted a search on Etsy for homemade medicine that is designed to mimic regulated pharmaceuticals. Over the course of their investigation, the team found a variety of product listings that can be used as ingredients to prescription or illicit drugs, or ones that can act as direct substitutes.
Although many of the items or shops selling them are quickly flagged and taken down, others evade detection by listing out chemical names or using purposefully misspelled words and odd spacing. According to the release from the Partnership for Safe Medicines, Etsy has no service to verify sellers of active pharmaceutical ingredients. This leaves customers unable to confirm if what they are buying is real or if it was manufactured under appropriately safe conditions.
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The findings from the research team were broken down into several different categories: Do-it-yourself injectables; miscellaneous supplies, not handcrafted; unapproved foreign medications; and raw chemicals and precursors. The do-it-yourself injectable category was noted as one of the “scariest” by the investigators. Among their findings was a bottle of what purported to be semaglutide, a GLP-1 agonist that is the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy. The only version of the drug approved by the FDA is made by Novo Nordisk and is used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Since 2022, semaglutide has been in short supply due to increased demand. According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, drug shortages—including semaglutide shortages—can put patients at risk. The organization warned against “bad actors” who take advantage of patients by illegally selling fake products that mimic semaglutide. Patients who buy these counterfeit products can experience hospitalization, seizures, and dangerously low blood sugar.2
In its release, the Partnership for Safe Medicines urged Etsy to properly enforce its terms-of-use in a consistent and timely manner. It also said that Etsy and other similar marketplaces should be governed by the compliance requirements of the proposed SHOPSAFE Act, which aims to protect consumers from harmful counterfeit products being sold online. The bill, which was introduced by US Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), seeks to reduce online availability of harmful counterfeit products by incentivizing platforms to vet sellers and goods.3
“Brand protection teams and regulators/law enforcement should include etsy.com in their online monitoring efforts,” the Partnership for Safe Medicines said in a release.1 “While not as naked of an illegal market as the Dark Web, there are criminals using the platform to transact potentially dangerous chemicals in plain sight.”
READ MORE: Majority of Pharmacists Say They Are Being Impacted by Drug Shortages
References
1. Threat Alert: Medicine designed to mimic regulated pharmaceuticals for sale online at Etsy.com. News Release. Partnership for Safe Medicines. March 5, 2024. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://www.safemedicines.org/2024/03/etsy-alert.html
2. Diabetes Drug Shortages and Fake Ozempic. News Release. National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. December 13, 2023. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://nabp.pharmacy/news/blog/diabetes-drug-shortages-and-fake-ozempic/
