Over one million units of illegal medicines were detained by the HPRA in 2024, marking a 14% increase compared to numbers detained in 2023. Announcing its annual enforcement data, the HPRA confirmed that it detained 1,000,984 dosage units* of falsified and other illegal medicines in 2024. The data highlights that anabolic steroids, sedatives and erectile dysfunction products are consistently the most detained categories of medicines year on year.

The HPRA continues to encourage consumers to make informed and safe choices by purchasing prescription medicines only from authorised sources, ensuring their safety and quality.

When prescription medicines are bought on-line in Ireland there is no way of knowing for certain if the product is genuine, if it contains the right active ingredient or if it has been tested and approved for human use. The HPRA states that the supply of online prescription medicines into and within Ireland is illegal and that consumers are taking a risk with their health if they seek to buy outside of the regulated pharmacy setting or via the internet.

The HPRA detention figures for 2024 include:     

• Anabolic steroids - 203,088 units detained (20%^)
• Sedative medicines - 146,686 units detained (15%)
• Erectile dysfunction - 119,289 units detained (12%)
• Analgesic medicines - 113,555 units detained (11%)

^As a percent of total detentions in 2024

The HPRA also noted an upward trend in detentions of GLP-1 products including, predominantly, semaglutide and liraglutide. While overall numbers remain low, 1,582 units of GLP-1 products were detained in 2024 compared to 568 units in 2023 and just 40 units in 2022...