364 Cases of Illegal Online Sale and Advertisement of Pharmaceuticals Detected on Secondhand Platforms

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 12th that it had detected 364 posts illegally selling and advertising pharmaceuticals such as skin disease treatments and hair loss treatments on online secondhand trading platforms.

From July 17 to the 9th of last month, the Ministry identified and blocked access to illegal pharmaceutical sales posts on four secondhand trading platforms: Danggeun, Bungaejangter, Junggomarket, and Secondwear. The types of pharmaceuticals detected included 104 cases of skin disease treatments, 74 cases of hair loss treatments, 45 cases of digestive and stomach medicines, 40 cases of nutritional supplements, 33 cases of eye drops, 29 cases of antipyretic analgesics, 15 cases of pain relief and anti-inflammatory drugs, and 24 other cases.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has requested investigations for violations of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act against those who sold or advertised prescription drugs that pose serious side effects if misused.

Most of the detected pharmaceuticals were unauthorized domestic drugs distributed through overseas direct purchases and proxy buying. The Ministry stated, “No minimum information to protect consumer safety, such as precautions, was provided,” and urged, “The sale of pharmaceuticals online is illegal; please purchase and use only domestically approved pharmaceuticals from pharmacies.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry also reported that it requested the operators of the four secondhand trading platforms to strengthen management by blocking sales and advertising posts for pharmaceutical transactions between individuals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.