title: Investigating patient perspectives on medical returns and buying medicines online in two communities in Melbourne, Australia: results from a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  By going online or overseas, patients can purchase a range of prescription and over-the-counter drugs and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), without prescription and without input from a qualified health professional. Such practices raise questions about medicine safety and how and why patients choose to procure medicines using such methods. The aim of this paper is to examine two unconventional types of medicine procurement-medical returns and purchasing medicines online-from the patient perspective.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data are drawn from a large qualitative study examining health-seeking practices among Indian-Australians (28) and Anglo-Australians (30) living with depression in Melbourne, Australia. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were undertaken. Thematic analysis was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 23 (39.6 %) participants reported having obtained medicines either through the internet or via medical returns. Indian-Australians sourced medicines from India while Anglo-Australians purchased CAM products from domestic and international e-pharmacies. Neither group encountered any difficulties in the medicines entering Australia. Cost and convenience were the main reasons for buying medicines online but dissatisfaction with Australian health services also influenced why Indian-Australians sought medicines from India. Nearly all participants reported benefits from consuming these medicines; only one person reported adverse effects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The increased availability of medicines transnationally and patients' preparedness to procure these medicines from a range of sources raise important issues for the safe use of medicines. Further research is needed to understand how patients forge their own transnational therapeutic regimes, understand and manage their levels of risk in relation to safe medicine use and what points of intervention might be most effective to promote safe medicine use.
authors.affiliation: Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, bianca.brijnath@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brijnath
authors.forename: Josefine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Antoniades
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D057240:Patient Preference; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D011306:Prescription Fees; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000208:ethnology
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D055553:Prescription Drugs