Buying medicines online
If you buy medicines online, there is every reason to be particularly careful and check if the online shop you are using is authorised to sell medicine. This will reduce your risk of buying medicines that could potentially harm your health.
Always look for the green EU logo and the blue EU logo
Above: The green online logo to indicate if websites may legally sell human medicines
Above: The blue online logo to indicate if websites may legally sell veterinary medicines
If buying human medicines, look for the green EU logo. The green EU logo certifies that the online shop has been authorised by a drug regulatory authority and must be displayed by all online shops authorised to sell human medicines.If buying veterinary medicines, look for the blue EU logo. The blue EU logo certifies that the online shop has been authorised by a drug regulatory authority and must be displayed by all online shops authorised to sell veterinary medicines.
If there is no logo, you can be almost certain that the online shop is selling medicines illegally or is located outside the EU, in which case it is illegal to import the medicine to Denmark.
The logo must be clickable and should take you to a website of the Danish Medicines Agency or another EU drug regulatory authority listing pharmacies or authorised online shops (retailers).
Here you can see:
- The list of pharmacies selling medicines legally online,
- The list of other authorised retailers selling human medicines legally online, and
- The list of other authorised retailers selling veterinary medicines legally online.
Here are five questions that you should ask when buying online:
Is the offer too good to be true?
Be cautious when buying online, especially from online shops with poor machine-translated text, unusual prices like “DKK 517,97” or suspiciously low prices.
Where is the online shop located?
Check who is behind the online shop. Online shops in the EU are required to display their name, address, email and a telephone number if relevant. Even if the website domain ends in .dk, it could be located outside the EU, so if something goes wrong, it could be harder for you to get help.
Where is the medicine sent from?
Check which country the goods are sent from. Even if the online shop is placed in the EU, the goods might be dispatched from a non-EU country. It is illegal to have medicine sent to you by post from countries outside the EU/EEA. You should therefore read the terms of delivery.
Here you can read more about the rules for importing medicines to Denmark.
Can you pay by card?
It is safest to pay with a credit card, entering card number, expiry date and card verification code. When you pay by card, your bank can in most cases return the money to you if your order never arrives or the sum withdrawn from your account is too high. If you use 2-factor authentication, e.g. via SMS, that is an extra security.
Read the small print!
Online questionnaires, free samples and competitions could be a cover-up for scam and fake websites. Always read the small print before entering a competition or accepting a good offer.