Dark web vendors now monetizing the HRT crisis: Vital treatments sell at FOUR times the NHS price

The analysis shows that online merchants make up for the lack of hormone replacement therapy by selling vital treatments on the “dark web.”

Unauthorized dealers in Russia, Thailand and Brazil are taking advantage of the HRT crisis in the UK by advertising critical products for up to four times an NHS prescription.

Research commissioned by the Daily Mail shows that a monthly supply of Estrogel is available on a secret collective of Internet sites that many women are desperately searching for.

A single NHS prescription for HRT costs £9.35. However, Russian sellers advertise its equivalent – ​​an 80g tube – for £37.65, and Thai retailers offer it for £19.05.

The analysis also found that there are nine different options for purchasing Estrogel on the dark web, with most products being sold from Thailand. The cheapest option costs twice as much as an NHS prescription.

Experts denied the disclosures, saying the traffickers “exploited” the desperate situation the women find themselves in.

Meanwhile, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said it was “surprised” that HRT is now making its way into the dark web: sites accessed through certain software where crimes are on the agenda, including trafficking illegal drugs and ammunition.

While it is not illegal to take HRT this way, users will not be evaluated by a doctor and will be able to order from their address.

Experts have also expressed concern about “low quality” products that could be counterfeit.

Professor Alan Woodward, a cybercomputer expert at the University of Surrey, said: “The problem is that when people are desperate, they will turn to alternative sources.

“You can almost guarantee that if something is scarce, it will happen” [traders] bid online to sell.

‘There are no status’ [they] Do not abuse even when people need life-changing drugs. The problem is you are dealing with an anonymous group that is completely irresponsible.

“So you have no idea whether what you’re getting is what you ordered or whether you’re going to get something. Worse still, it could be a substance that could seriously harm you.

Dee Murray, CEO and founder of the Menopause Experts group, said: “The lack of hormone replacement therapy is causing stress and potential harm for women, forcing some to take matters into their own hands and search for material online.

Darkweb retailers are making up for the lack of HRT by preying on the desperate who have no guarantee of what will actually get in the mail.

These sellers live outside the law in an unregulated underworld where there is no return for buyers who don’t get what they pay for, or worse, exposed to harmful chemicals and counterfeit drugs. “

Buying drugs on the dark web or through an unauthorized retailer is inherently risky and potentially very dangerous. HRT should only be prescribed by qualified healthcare professionals who understand the patient’s history.

Medicines obtained from unregulated websites are more likely to be counterfeit, illegal and of poor quality and may endanger the patient’s health.

Diane Danzebrink, founder of the website Menopause Support, told The Mail she was “really worried” about the results.

She urged women who are having trouble accessing their HRT to speak to their GP or pharmacist to find “an alternative product licensed and regulated for short-term use.”

The Mail is campaigning to address the HRT crisis and has previously announced that women have to pay up to eight times the NHS price at private online pharmacies.

Wing Tang of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said: “We were shocked that women were put in a position where they thought they should get their drugs from the dark web.

“Medicines from unregulated websites are more likely to be illegal counterfeit and of poor quality and can endanger the patient’s health. We are confident that the new HRT task force will help solve the problem of HRT shortage”.

x.leatham@dailymail.co.uk