LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Western Europeans spend an estimated 10.5 billion euros ($14.3 billion) a year on illicitly sourced medicines, many of them counterfeit, according to a Pfizer-sponsored (PFE.N) survey published on Tuesday.
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 percent of 14,000 people surveyed in 14 states said they had bought medicines illicitly, with the rate ranging from 38 and 37 percent in Germany and Italy, respectively, to 12 and 10 percent in Britain and the Netherlands.
Weight-loss medicines accounted for nearly half of all online purchases, followed by prescription treatments for flu, such as Roche's (ROG.VX) Tamiflu; pills for erectile dysfunction; quit-smoking drugs; and painkillers.
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