Big data analytics spot illegal opioid sales on Twitter

Rogue pharmacies using Twitter to peddle powerful painkillers and counterfeit drugs can be identified by big data analytics, a new study has revealed.Due to be published in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health, the study by researchers at the University of California San Diego successfully used a methodology that identified tweets with specific keywords that were advertising the sale of opioid drugs directly to consumers in violation of US federal law.