Monday, November 06, 2006

A aquisição de medicamentos através da Internet

Na época da globalização e da revolução electrónica, os medicamentos juntam-se aos livros, aos discos e aos gadgets electrónicos, e passam a circular livremente, ainda que ilegalmente em muitos países.

Aqui, verificamos que, "Patients are beginning to self-prescribe cancer treatments by ordering them online, after learning about the newer therapies, such as Avastin for bowel cancer and Tarceva for lung cancer".

Ainda que, "Many treatments have not yet been licensed by the government's watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)".

Pois é, a Internet não tem fronteiras ou bandeiras. E na Grã-Bretanha um Médico Especialista em oncologia refere que "he had a number of private patients who had begun to order drugs from one of the largest internet pharmacies in Canada, CanadaDrugs.com" e que "These patients are well informed, and they shop around for the cheapest prices".

Imagine-se o carácter revolucionário da Internet, com esta situação: "a younger generation of patients would demand the best treatments, even if the NHS decided they were not affordable. 'We're in a world where an easyJet flight can be booked within minutes. The idea that you can't get a cancer drug that will extend your life because a government body has decreed you can't have it just won't work".

Será que em Portugal, o fenómeno da aquisição de medicamentos pela Internet já começou?