Billions spent on fake pills

Western Europeans spend an estimated €10.5 billion a year on illicitly sourced medicines, many of them counterfeit, according to a Pfizer-sponsored survey published yesterday.

Germans and Italians buy the most prescription-only drugs without a prescription, either over the internet or on overseas trips, in nightclubs, in shops and via friends.

Overall, 21 per cent of 14,000 people surveyed in 14 states said they had bought medicines illicitly.