About this Research Topic

Background

The online pharmacy market is a rapidly developing channel of the pharmaceutical supply since the beginning of the century. Its actual size is yet relatively unknown, thousands of internet pharmacies are accessible on the web. Although online medicine purchase from legitimate and verified Internet pharmacy websites has become an accepted practice in developed countries, a vast number of illegitimate vendors overwhelm the market of online pharmaceuticals. Along with benefits perceived by patients, several patient safety risks are linked to the procurement of medicines outside the traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacy supply chain.

A multistakeholder approach is required for the evaluation of the online pharmaceutical market.
Organizations, patients and consumers, manufacturers, distributors, authorities and law enforcement agencies, media and governments, and search engine providers can contribute to the integrity of the supply chain, maximize benefits and minimize harms associated with e-commerce and distant selling of medicinal products.

The research topic proposes a comprehensive evaluation of the multiple aspects of this constantly developing online pharmacy market, aiming to gather real-world evidence and facilitate the publication of studies from various nations and disciplines. Ultimately, better market insight, internationally harmonized legal frameworks, global verification systems, further quality assurance and law enforcement of the transborder trade of pharmaceutical products will be supported by the research topic.

The article collection will cover cutting-edge research themes including:

- Laws and regulations for online pharmacies, legal and law enforcement actions
- Consumer behavior, prevalence of use, and patient preferences, including the role of consumer health literacy, self-medication and digital transformation
- The impact of online pharmacy operations on patient- and medication safety, and adherence to medicines
- Impact of online pharmacies on the traditional supply chain and brick-and-mortar pharmacies
- Description how the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged and affected online pharmacies globally
- Online consumer access to prescription and non-prescription medicines, and controlled drugs
- Key issues surrounding the purchasing of antibiotics without a prescription, especially for self-limiting conditions (such as upper respiratory tract infections and 'Watch' and 'Reserve' antibiotics under the WHO’s AWaRe classification accelerating antimicrobial resistance)
- Verification, accreditation and identification of legitimate websites for online sale of medicines
- Online pharmacy marketing and pricing strategies, social marketing and search engine optimization
- Pharmacy services, role of information technology and the delivery of services online including e-telepharmacy, electronic prescriptions, applications
- Substandard and counterfeit medicines, cybersecurity threats, test purchases and quality control of products and services provided by Internet pharmacies
- Concerns with sub-standard medicines especially among Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs)

Keywords: internet pharmacy, online medicines, verification, supply chain, patient safety

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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