Stiftung Warentest rebukes mail-order pharmacies – only one delivers really “good”

There is a lack of competence
Stiftung Warentest rebukes mail-order pharmacies – only one delivers really “good”

Buying medicines online is becoming increasingly popular. But not every order should be sent to the customer without comment – because especially with larger deliveries of several drugs, there is a risk of double medication, overdosing, interactions or simply incorrect use. Therefore, it is also essential for internet pharmacies to react to certain orders and offer professional advice. This is exactly what Stiftung Warentest took a closer look at in eleven top-selling mail-order pharmacies – and it does not come without a warning.

The biggest question for the testers came up right at the beginning: How do you actually test an online pharmacy? To ensure a fair comparison, Stiftung Warentest always ordered the same medication from all pharmacies, thus simulating seven cases in which urgent prophylactic advice was needed. This would be the case, for example, with a bulk order of the migraine drug “Sumatriptan”, where the quantity determines whether it is available without a prescription or with the purchase of “Itraconazole” for fungal infections and the acid blocker “Pantoprazole”, where it is Interactions can occur if taken at the same time.

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Data not put to good use

Online shops could display many of the warnings that are actually necessary directly in the shopping cart – but not all of them always did. The same applies to warnings if a drug is not suitable for the customer’s age. According to the Stiftung Warentest, the data was always available, but was apparently rarely used sensibly.

First of all: These shortcomings are the reason why no mail-order pharmacy scores better than “satisfactory” in the most important test category “technical quality”. On the contrary: Only three candidates achieved the mediocre rating, six shops only got a “sufficient” rating, two even got a “poor” rating.

Test winner with the overall grade “good” (2.5) is DocMorris. The testers praise the good service, the mobile website and the protection of the customer account. The professional quality of the pharmacy is “satisfactory” (2.9). Medpex followed in second place with an overall rating of “satisfactory” (2.8); testers primarily criticized the website navigation and the labeling of the packages. The latter is important because the orders were not supposed to be handed out to neighbors or children, but many suppliers did not include information for the suppliers on the packages.

In the test, Stiftung Warentest particularly noticed the Volksversand pharmacy. This is a provider from the Czech Republic who, according to the law, is not actually allowed to sell prescription drugs in Germany. Using a trick, namely forwarding the orders to German partner pharmacies, the provider delivered all the medicines for the test orders. With a corresponding note, the provider cuts off with the overall grade “sufficient” (3.8).

Two providers “poor”

Due to major deficiencies in terms of professional quality, the two providers Medikamte-per-Klick (“poor”, 4.8) and Apotal (“poor”, 5.0) land in the last places. Apparently, in none of the test cases was there adequate advice or a warning about taking the wrong medication.

However, the mail order companies still have their right to exist – because large discounts were achieved in the test, especially for bulk orders. So if you know exactly which drugs are needed and do not need advice, you should not be put off by the poor results. Stiftung Warentest advises everyone else to proactively point out that they are taking other medications and to pay attention to messages in the packages that may indicate possible problems with taking them. But it is probably best to speak to a doctor beforehand and only then place an order – or go to the local pharmacy.

You can find the full test for a fee at test.de.

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