Business Insider: Inside the internet's underground fertility drug trade
UC fertility expert discusses hazards of purchasing fertility drugs via internet
In vitro fertilization drugs are expansive and only 13 states mandate insurance coverage in this area. Even when patients are insured, essential in vitro fertilization drugs, which can cost up to $5,000 per round, are often excluded. Just as patients overcome biological hurdles to parenthood, they need to clear financial ones as well. That has led to a booming underground drug trade on Instagram.
Suruchi Thakore, MD, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UC, warns that patients who source their own drugs may compromise their own fertility treatment. Medications from unconventional sources, whether it’s a neighbor, Instagram follower, or overseas pharmacy are more likely to have been improperly stored. And that can lower their effectiveness, Thakore, a UC Health physician, told Insider.
Related Stories
UC Board of Trustees approves $12 million for building design phase for new welcome gateway
March 13, 2026
The UC Board of Trustees approved $12 million at its Feb. 24 meeting for the design phase of a new Welcome Gateway Building for Uptown campus.
Dual-arm robot stabilizes satellite for repairs in space
March 13, 2026
Interesting Engineering highlights an aerospace engineering research project examining novel ways to keep repair robots oriented in space.
Scientists discover how snakes stand upright without limbs
March 12, 2026
Earth.com highlights a study co-authored by UC Professor Bruce Jayne, an expert in snake locomotion, about how snakes stand upright without arms or legs.