A recent investigation said that an unequal distribution of COVID-19 antivirals means people are buying tablets online that may not be safe when used without medical supervision.
To avoid severe illness, people infected with COVID-19 are given antivirals like Merck's molnupiravir and Pfizer's nirmatrelvir. Still, they should only be administered by a doctor or as part of a clinical study.
Researchers published the study titled "The black market for COVID-19 antiviral drugs" in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
COVID-19 Oral Medications in Black Market
Journalist Gabriel Plata discloses the specifics of a worldwide black market for molnupiravir, Medical Express reported. According to the article, patients pay exorbitant rates for generic medicine copies online and take the meds without medical supervision.
The same Medical Express report mentioned that customers might buy a course of molnupiravir for £124.99 (approx. US $157) on buymolnupiravironline.com, a London-based site, without a prescription or approval by a doctor.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) was contacted by the BMJ.
"Websites that offer to supply prescription-only medicines without a prescription are not only in breach of UK legal requirements and likely to be committing a criminal offense but are putting patients' health in jeopardy," the MHRA spokeswoman said per Eurekalert.
The website Buymolnupiravironline.com has yet to respond to the recent allegations.
Meanwhile, senior officials in Israel expressed concerns earlier this year that Pfizer's new COVID-19 drug would wind up on the illegal market.
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The medicine is believed to have few side effects. It has reduced hospitalizations and deaths in individuals most prone to getting a serious disease by nearly 90%. Israel is one of the first countries to get the drug.
Health officials are concerned that some patients may sell the drug online or other ways to the highest bidder rather than take it themselves, Times of Israel reported.
Because its safety in pregnancy has not been demonstrated, experts caution that using molnupiravir without medical supervision "could increase the risk of birth defects" and that widespread, uncontrolled antiviral usage may foster virus resistance.
Some are now pushing for the MHRA to rethink its licensing of molnupiravir once the findings of Oxford University's Panoramic trial-the drug's first independent study are disclosed.
Not All COVID-19 Antivirals Are Safe For Everyone
Many patients administered COVID-19 oral drugs will need to be closely monitored by doctors and pharmacists. NBC News, citing experts, warns that the antivirals may not be safe for everyone.
Pfizer's Paxlovid has been licensed by the Food and Drug Administration for mild to moderate COVID-19 cases in children as young as 12 who have existing conditions such as heart disease or diabetes that enhance the risk of hospitalization and death from the coronavirus.
However, one of the antiviral cocktail's two medicines may interact negatively or fatally with popular medications such as statins, blood thinners, and antidepressants. The FDA also advises against using Paxlovid if you have serious kidney or liver issues.
The FDA has restricted the use of molnupiravir to adults and only in instances when other authorized medicines, such as monoclonal antibodies, are unavailable or not "clinically appropriate."
On its Paxlovid information page, the FDA has provided a comprehensive list of pharmaceuticals that may interact unfavorably with ritonavir, including those that should not be taken with COVID-19 antivirals.
However, many medication interactions are tolerable, according to pharmacists, and should not prevent most individuals from using Paxlovid.
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