NEWS

Greek penchant for lifestyle drugs is risky

Greeks are increasingly using «lifestyle drugs» to treat sexual impotence, smoking addiction, obesity and other problems, doctors said yesterday, adding that counterfeit versions of these medicines being sold over the Internet could pose a health risk. Last year, Greeks spent 24.45 million euros on Viagra and other impotence therapies, a 9 percent increase on the amount spent in 2005. But consuming these drugs can be dangerous as they are often procured without a doctor’s prescription, frequently over the Internet, according to the president of the Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesale Companies, Evripidis Adamou. «Many of these fake drugs are ineffective at best, dangerous at worst,» Adamou said ahead of his association’s annual conference on Friday. In the past five years, some 170 counterfeit versions of lifestyle drugs were found in the EU.

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