FDA Warns About Online Pharmacies

The Food and Drug Administration has launched a new campaign today to warn Americans about the dangers of fraudulent online pharmacies.

The “BeSafeRx” campaign is targeted at the 25% of online consumers who have purchased prescription medicines online. The FDA warns that less than 3% of online pharmacies meet state and federal laws.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D. explains: “Buying medicines from rogue online pharmacies can be risky because they may sell fake, expired, contaminated, not approved by FDA, or otherwise unsafe products that are dangerous to patients.”

The FDA advises that people should only buy from online pharmacies that:

* require a valid prescription from a doctor or other health care professional;
* are located in the United States;
* have a licensed pharmacist available for consultation; and
* are licensed by the patient’s state board of pharmacy.

The FDA’s BeSafeRX campaign is located at FDA.gov/BeSafeRX.