Online doctor

Online doctor is a term that emerged during the 2000s, used by both the media and academics, to describe a generation of physicians and health practitioners who deliver healthcare, including drug prescription, over the internet.

In the 2000s, many people came to treat the internet as a first, or at least a major, source of information and communication. Health advice is now the second-most popular topic, after pornography, that people search for on the internet. With the advent of broadband and videoconferencing, many individuals have turned to online doctors to receive online consultations and purchase prescription drugs. Use of this technology has many advantages for both the doctor and the patient, including cost savings, convenience,accessibility, and improved privacy and communication.

In the US, a 2006 study found that searching for information on prescription or over-the-counter drugs was the fifth most popular search topic, and a 2004 study found that 4% of Americans had purchased prescription medications online. A 2009 survey conducted by Geneva-based Health On the Net Foundation found one-in-ten Europeans buys medicines from websites and one-third claim to use online consultation. In Germany, approximately seven million people buy from mail-order pharmacies, and mail-order sales account for approximately 8–10% of total pharmaceutical sales. In 2008, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain reported that approximately two million people in Great Britain were regularly purchasing pharmaceuticals online (both with a prescription from registered online UK doctors and without prescriptions from other websites). A recent survey commissioned by Pfizer, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, RPSGB, the Patients Association and HEART UK found that 15% of the British adults asked had bought a prescription-only medicine online.

In developed countries, many online doctors prescribe so-called ‘lifestyle drugs’, such as for weight loss, hair loss or erectile dysfunction. The RPSGB has identified the most popular products prescribed online as Prozac (an antidepressant), Viagra (for erectile dysfunction), Valium (a tranquiliser), Ritalin (a psychostimulant), Serostim (a synthetic growth hormone) and Provigil (a psychostimulant). A study in the USA has also shown that antibiotics are commonly available online without prescription.

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