Danes take a sensible approach to buying medicines online but lack knowledge of the rules

The Danish Medicines Agency has examined the public’s behaviour and attitudes towards buying medicines online: How many people buy medicines online? Where do they find information about medicines? Are they familiar with the rules governing the sale of medicines? And how do they assess the risks of shopping medicines online?

Although online shopping has become increasingly common, most Danes remain reluctant to buy their medicines online. The Danish Medicines Agency commissioned a population survey conducted by Epinion with more than 1,300 participants. It shows that 22% have bought medicines online within the past two years, a further 20% have considered doing so, while 58% have neither bought nor considered buying medicines online. Only 1% have bought medicines via social media, where selling medicines is not permitted at all, and 96% say they could not imagine doing so.

Danes seek information about medicines from a variety of sources, but the survey shows that most turn to their doctor (77%) and pharmacies (57%) for advice and guidance. A smaller proportion (23%) also use established health information websites, such as sundhed.dk, netdoktor.dk or min.medicin.dk, while very few obtain information about medicines from social media or AI searches. More people buy over-the-counter medicines than prescription medicines online, and most buy products they are already familiar with from websites they have used before.

The results therefore suggest that most Danes choose the safety of the established system, both when seeking information and when buying medicines. Those who buy or are considering buying medicines online primarily use Danish online retailers or online pharmacies, while very few have bought anything from foreign websites. Some 69% say they cannot imagine buying anything from websites in other EU countries, while 86% say they would not buy anything from websites outside the EU.

“Overall, the survey paints a picture of people taking a sensible and cautious approach to medicines. Most prefer the reassurance of Denmark’s well-established system, where people see their doctor and visit a pharmacy when they need prescription medicines,” says Nils Falk Bjerregaard, Director of the Danish Medicines Agency.

Lack of awareness of the rules and EU logos

Nils Falk Bjerregaard stresses that there is nothing wrong or inherently risky about buying medicines online, provided people buy only from authorised online pharmacies and websites and remain alert to illegal sellers. It is therefore important to know the rules governing the online sale of medicines, but this is where Danes’ knowledge and behaviour fall somewhat short.

“Almost everyone knows the rules governing the sale of prescription and over-the-counter medicines in pharmacies and physical shops. However, there is considerable uncertainty about the rules for online sales, making it harder to protect yourself and know whether what you are buying is an authorised medicine from a legitimate retailer,” says Nils Falk Bjerregaard.

This confusion about the rules contrasts with the fact that, according to the survey, Danes attach great importance to the websites they shop on appearing secure and trustworthy. At the same time, a large majority consider buying medicines online from unauthorised retailers to be extremely risky.

Three in four believe there is a high risk that medicines from illegal websites and social media may be falsified, cause unexpected side effects, contain ingredients other than those stated, be harmful to health, cause interactions or be ineffective, be past their expiry date, or result in customers receiving something other than what they ordered.

“It is good that Danes are aware of the potential risks. The illegal sale of potentially falsified medicines is a growing problem worldwide, and people need to exercise caution because illegal sellers go to great lengths to make their websites appear genuine and trustworthy. For example, we have seen the misuse of regulatory authority logos and pharmacy domain names, which can create a false sense of security,” says Nils Falk Bjerregaard.

For anyone choosing to buy medicines online, the best advice is to check whether the online retailer displays the EU logo scheme introduced in 2015, which indicates that the retailer is authorised to sell medicines for human use (green logo) or veterinary medicines (blue logo). Clicking on the logo should take the user to the competent authority in the EU country that authorised the website. The retailer can then be checked against the authority’s list of authorised sellers to verify that it operates legally.

However, the survey shows that 83% of Danes are unfamiliar with the EU logos, possibly because many do not buy medicines online at all. Awareness is higher among the 22% of Danes who have actually bought medicines online. Among these buyers, 23% recognise one or both logos, while 13% have seen them without knowing what they mean. Nevertheless, 63% of those who have bought medicines online remain unfamiliar with the logos.

Differences between demographic groups

The population survey shows that women buy medicines online more often than men (25% and 18%, respectively), and that people aged 30–44 are the most likely to buy medicines online (30%). Unsurprisingly, younger age groups are generally more active users of the internet and social media than older groups, both when seeking information and when buying medicines.

People aged 18–29 take medicines less frequently than older age groups, but they have the highest proportion of potential buyers (30%). They are also more likely to use a wider range of digital and informal information sources when seeking information about medicines. In this age group, 36% search widely online, 23% use AI, 20% ask family and friends, and 7% find information on social media.

By contrast, people over the age of 60 are the most likely to take medicines daily (76%), yet only 16% have bought medicines online, and 69% say they would not consider doing so. At the same time, this age group obtains information about medicines mainly from their doctor (83%), pharmacies (53%) or established health information websites such as sundhed.dk and netdoktor.dk (18%).

More results from the population survey are available on the Danish Medicines Agency’s website, including reasons for shopping online and the types of medicines bought by different demographic groups. The survey is presented in two reports by Epinion: one covers the overall national findings, while the other focuses on buyers. On our website, you can also test your knowledge of the rules governing the online sale of medicines and find more information about buying medicines safely.

Link

Themepage on buying medicines: www.lmst.dk/tænkførduhandler (dkma.dk - in danish only)