Herbal drugs and malaria meds seized
TRADITIONAL herbal Chinese medicines and the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine were illegally imported into Ireland last year by people planning to use them to treat Covid-19.
A briefing note from the Health Products Regulatory Authority details how just over 48,500 units of a type of Chinese traditional medicine were seized.
The drug has been touted as effective in dealing with coronavirus and widely sold through social media.
The discussion document said: “This product is of Chinese origin and has been used as a treatment for Covid-19 in China.” Hydroxychloroquine, which was championed by Donald Trump and chloroquine phosphate were also intercepted by authorities in significant quantities.
The note also detailed a massive rise in the levels of sedative melatonin being seized.
From 2014 to 2018, an average of just 28,050 units had been seized each year – but last year this rose to 334,554 with the overwhelming majority of it coming from the US.
There was also a sharp rise in seizures of the anti-histamine drugs diphenhydramine and Doxylamine, both also used frequently as sleeping aids.
The volume of benzodiazepines and sleeping tablets being intercepted has fallen however in recent years, according to the discussion document.
The HPRA briefing said seizures of erectile dysfunction drugs had hit an all-time record with much of it relating to a single investigation which saw 370,000 units of Sildenafil seized.
Among the drugs also seized in this category were 210 units of an item called ‘Horny Goat Weed’.
The note said: “Erectile dysfunction product detentions are a record high of 484,846, up from 283,989 detentions in 2019 and 114,503 detentions in 2018.”