Telemedicine business

Viagra & Co.: How prescription requirements are being circumvented

This story is of particular interest to Krone+ subscribers. In Austria, it is illegal to order prescription-only medication online. But not everyone abides by this rule when it comes to obtaining sexual enhancers, muscle-building drugs, painkillers or psychotropic drugs. We show how easy it is to get the pills to Austria with a few tricks. Doctors warn against this dubious and even dangerous trend of telemedicine.

Licensed online pharmacies and telemedicine providers are booming in Europe - that much is a fact. In some circumstances, they save the need to go to the doctor to get a prescription. The reasons for this are also obvious: convenience, a sense of shame or the prospect of failure. What's more, unlike on dizzy portals, the medicines are originals or generics. The risk of falling for fake goods or even harmful products is drastically reduced.

The following example shows how doctors and prescription requirements can be circumvented.