The Internet makes purchasing medicine convenient and easy. Yet convenience often comes with dangerous risks.

Margaret Hamburg, the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently said, “Many U.S. consumers are being misled in the hopes of saving money by purchasing prescription drugs over the Internet from illegal pharmacies.  Unfortunately, these drugs are often counterfeit, contaminated, unapproved products or contain an inconsistent amount of active ingredient.  Taking these drugs can pose a danger to consumers.”

Supporters of importation suggest that it is safe to buy medicines from purported ‘Canadian’ Internet pharmacies – pharmacies not actually run out of Canada – which have been known to sell fake and potentially unsafe medicines to unsuspecting consumers. The facts prove otherwise. It was recently reported that experts found spam from an online ‘Canadian’ pharmacy that was linked to Russian cybercriminals.  The ‘Canadian’ website was most likely run out of Ukraine or Russia and the pills were being shipped out of Mumbai, India and subsequently from Shanghai, China. 

What’s more, an FDA investigation found that drugs being promoted as ‘Canadian’ came from 27 other countries around the globe.  The FDA announced the results of an operation to confiscate parcels containing pharmaceuticals from India, Israel, Costa Rica and Vanuatu – 43 percent of which had been ordered from so-called Canadian Internet pharmacies.  Of the drugs being promoted as ‘Canadian,’ 85 percent actually came from 27 other countries around the globe. 

The worldwide counterfeit epidemic is very real and very scary. The World Health Organization has said that up to 10 percent of medicines available globally are counterfeits, posing a serious health hazard. In addition, the Center for Medicines in the Public Interest estimated that counterfeit drug sales will reach $75 billion globally in 2010, an increase of more than 90 percent from 2005.
Now that the health care reform bill is law and tens of million of Americans will be gaining access to affordable health care coverage, services and treatments, we believe that unsafe prescription drug importation schemes should be an afterthought. 

There are other safer alternatives in America that can help patients access safe medicines.  Read more below.