The Zoloft antidepressant that disappeared from pharmacies began to be sold through “bookmarks”

The Zoloft drug with the active ingredient sertraline, which disappeared from pharmacies, began to be sold through the darknet. It is reported by Znak.

According to the publication, Zoloft can be bought in St. Petersburg in four illegal stores, having received it as a drug through the “bookmark” system. At the same time, the price of an antidepressant on the dark web is about four times higher than the market price.

Problems with the supply of the drug to pharmacies began in March last year. Then the press service of Viatris in Russia, which owns the Zoloft brand, reported that the drug was temporarily out of stock. Today, the problem of buying this antidepressant has not been legally resolved. The original “Zoloft” is not in “Ozerki”, “Pharmacy for the Thrifty”, “Petersburg Pharmacies”, “Be Healthy” and many others. In three pharmacy chains, you can buy a generic drug on pre-order.

Viatris Russia said that problems with the availability of the drug are caused by increased demand and they will not be able to resume supplies until March.

Zoloft is one of the most popular antidepressant drugs. Psychiatrists often prescribe it for depressive disorders because of the list of side effects that is not as extensive as other antidepressants. Changing the drug should be done under the supervision of a doctor, in addition, it takes some time (about two weeks), and for the patient, switching to a new antidepressant may mean a return of unpleasant symptoms.

According to the Pharmaceutical Bulletin, in 2020, Zoloft sales increased by 42% compared to 2019, and in January 2021 by 35% compared to January 2020.

Lawyer Sergei Kolosovsky explained to the publication that buyers of Zoloft on the dark web probably should not be afraid of liability, since this drug is not included in the list of potent substances.