Thousands of Irish people are turning to the internet to buy prescription-only medicines often from illicit sources, according to a study.
The report, conducted by drug firm Pfizer, estimated the black market economy generated by counterfeit medicines in Ireland may be worth as much €86 million a year.
It found more than a fifth of people admitted to bypassing the need for a prescription and buying medicines illegally online or elsewhere.
Experts believe between 50 and 90 per cent of medicines bought from online sources are fake.
The Pfizer study ranked Ireland as the sixth worst offender in Europe in terms of counterfeit activity, which it said contributed to the European-wide black market of €10.5 billion.
Last year the anti-viral Tamiflu was one of the most "spammed" medicines on the internet as a result of the swine flu pandemic.
At the time, the UK's Royal Pharmaceutical Society warned that the Tamiflu being sold online was, in most cases, fake and may have been adulterated with anything from sugar to rat poison.
The European Commission recently raised concerns on the rising number of counterfeit medicines being seized by the various national authorities. It said some 34 million fake tablets had been seized on European borders in just two months.
Chief executive of the Irish Patients Association Stephen McMahon said: "There are many tools needed to crack counterfeit medicine, one of which is more knowledge so this research which reveals the scope of the problem in the European Union and Ireland is to be welcomed.
"We need to do more as the fuse on this major public health time bomb ignites – many people don't realise the very real dangers of buying medicines online and that one click of the mouse could kill," he said
Pfizer's medical director, Dr John Farrell, said: "People in Ireland are risking their health and contributing to the criminal economy by accessing medicines from outside legitimate healthcare systems."
