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Today, on World Patient Safety Day, FIP launches a curriculum for addressing the risk of substandard and falsified (SF) medical products sold online. The curriculum is presented in a FIP handbook for educators.
“In recent years, patients and caregivers have increasingly used websites and social media to obtain medical products. Self-diagnosis and self-prescription have increased the use of illegal online drug sellers where SF medical products are sold. Identifying SF medical products is difficult for patients and healthcare professionals. Similarly, identifying legal online pharmacies can be challenging for patients and healthcare professionals alike. Gaps in knowledge and skills in undergraduate students remain, as most courses may not cover the online sale of SF medical products,” said John Hertig, executive committee member of FIP’s Hospital Pharmacy Section, who led the development of the handbook.
The new handbook focuses on online sources of these products. It provides teaching materials, resources and practical guidance to prepare pharmacy undergraduates for practice so that they can support public safety.