Self-Medication

Australian doctors have warned Internet users against buying drugs online. They caution that many "health' websites do not provide adequate information about the medicines they retail.

A recent survey of 104 e-pharmacies found that 41 sites did not offer any advice on their products. About 70 of the websites provided some information but on 53 of them, the quality of data was too poor to benefit consumers.

The poll, conducted in 13 countries, revealed that less than a third of the sites gave disease-related information. While 27 sites sold St John's wort