Direct selling of nootropic drugs in an e-commerce platform in the Philippines : status and regulatory issues

Date of Completion

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy

Keywords

Nootropic Agents, Direct Selling, Electronic Commerce

Abstract

This study applied data mining methods, such as classification and clustering. The search terms and other terms associated with nootropics were collected from Shopee website and Google. The nootropics found in Shopee were initially filtered using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and classified according to the name of the seller and pertinent product information. Subsequently, duplicated items (same product and seller were eliminated, and then, data validation was done while excluding ineligible data. The data were reviewed independently before the characterization based on product category (over-the-counter drug, prescription drug, or food supplement, country or region of origin, popularity (numbers of ratings, reviews, and products sold), and FDA registration based on Philippine FDA Verification Portal and Indonesian BADAN-POM database. The final data were filtered again using the eligibility criteria. Lastly, the data were sorted and arranged into graphs and tables for the analysis. The study showed that unregistered drugs containing controlled substances were available and highly accessible in Shopee. This manifests the lack of regulatory compliance among online sellers, as well s the e-commerce platform. Hence, it is imperative to review current direct-to-consumer policies and strengthen digital surveillance of the online pharmaceutical marketplace.

First Advisor

Sigfredo B. Mata, RPh

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