The number of illegal or fake doses of a prescription drug often referred to as the “coffin tablet” that were detained by the medicines watchdog has increased by 920 per cent over the past five years.
On Wednesday, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) published its annual enforcement data, which show it seized more than one million units of illegal medicine in 2024, a 14 per cent increase on the previous year.
Gráinne Power, director of compliance with the HPRA, said there are two concerning trends – the increasing illicit prevalence of pregablin, as well as an increase in the use of weight loss drugs.
Pregablin, marketed as Lyrica, is licensed for use in Ireland, the UK and the US to treat epilepsy, nerve pain and general anxiety disorders.
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However, concerns have been raised about the potential dangers of misuse of the drug after a study by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland found the drug was detected in one out of every 16 postmortem toxicology tests.
According to the HPRA, there were 2,290 units of pregablin detained in 2020, but this rose to 23,442 in 2024 – an increase of 923 per cent.
“There has been a considerable uplift in pregablin since 2022 and continuing into this year. We would be really concerned about that and we are watching it very closely,” Ms Power said.
“It is serious medicine, it can cause harm. And when it’s taken outside of standard medicine, it tends to be used with opioids or other drugs and creates a really dangerous cocktail.”
The HPRA also noted an increase in the detention of illegal or falsified GLP-1 medications, which are used to treat diabetes and obesity – rising from 40 units in 2022 to 1,582 units last year.
“They represent a much smaller percentage, but what concerns us is the rate of change. They started to appear in 2022 and the volumes we are detaining has gone up in multiples. Because of that, it is an area we are focusing on ... it is seen as a risk to public health,” Ms Power said.
Drugs affecting a person’s body image make up a significant proportion of seizures, said the HPRA, with anabolic steroids, which are used to boost muscle growth, equalling almost one quarter of all detentions. A total of 203,088 units of these drugs were detained throughout 2024.
“There is nothing safe about those medicines. The way in which they tend to be used outside of medical supervision is dosages aren’t managed, products are stacked,” Ms Power said.
“Ultimately, it‘s well documented in terms of damage to the organs of your body, effects on your mental health and mood swings, hair loss and infertility and erectile dysfunction. Individuals have lost their lives as a result of using these products.”
Furthermore, the HPRA said it initiated two prosecution cases last year, one relating to anabolic steroids, and the other relating to weigh loss products.
The body also amended or shutdown 2,553 websites, ecommerce listings and social media pages which were advertising fake or illegal medicines.
Ms Power said cost and privacy are often reasons why people seek to procure medicines in this manner. However, she has warned the public against this, stating it is not worth the risk
“It’s a global phenomenon so we’re victims to an international network. There is no doubt that this represents business and profit to unscrupulous parties. It’s not just individuals who have fallen outside of the regulatory process because they don’t know. It is people who are actively making counterfeit medications.”
