Health risks

Counterfeit drugs may contain:

• an incorrect amount of the active ingredient,
• the wrong active ingredient, or
• no active ingredients at all.

Counterfeit drugs laced with fentanyl (an opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine) have been found in 48 states, killing people in 33 of them.

In addition to individual harm that counterfeit drugs can cause, they also have the potential to negatively impact entire communities. One example is the case of counterfeit antibiotics. By failing to deliver the much-needed treatment, fake antibiotics can create increased antibiotic resistance in a community, decreasing the effectiveness of these critical medications.

Other risks

Identity Theft

Consumers often unknowingly purchase counterfeit drugs directly through online sources that seem like legitimate pharmacies but are, in fact, illegal.

Consumers are lured into these illegal sales because the sites offer:

• large price discounts,
• the option of purchasing medications without a prescription, or
• medications in larger quantities.

In addition to the health risks caused by counterfeit drugs, using illegal online pharmacies puts consumers’ personal financial information into the hands of criminals.

Illegal online pharmacies are less likely than legitimate sites to meet security standards, which means consumers who shop at them may be at risk of having their information leaked, stolen, or shared by other bad actors. In fact, some fraudulent online pharmacies plant malware downloads intended to steal personal information from consumers who visit them. Consumers become at greater risk of identity theft.

Rip-offs

Many of the illegal online pharmacies require consumers to pay for their medications with payment services like PayPal or Google Pay. Many consumer complaints filed with the National Consumers League’s Global Anti-fraud Hub report that they have paid for the drugs but never receive it. When consumers try to track down their purchases or get their money back, they experience an endless loop of customer service interactions or no response at all. Ultimately they never get their money back.

There are legitimate online pharmacies that operate legally and provide consumers with convenient and safe access to real medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

But far too many sites are illegal.

According to the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, there are 35,000 active online drug sellers. Yet, 96 percent of them are illegal, failing to comply with the law and pharmacy practice standards.

With so much at risk to our health and pocketbooks, it’s crucial to know how to spot sketchy websites before sharing personal and financial information with them. For tips on how to stay safe when purchasing drugs online, click here.

Drug resistance caused by counterfeit medicines poses a very serious global health threat and intensifies the challenge of fighting infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. In most cases, the fraudulent drugs contain weaker amounts of active ingredients or none at all.

In Africa, the proliferation of counterfeit antimalarial drugs results in more than 120,000 deaths each year.

Even though the United States has a closed drug distribution system intended to prevent counterfeits from entering U.S. markets, it isn’t foolproof. One reason is because of illegal online pharmacies. Learn more here.

Can I buy medication outside the U.S.?

It is illegal in most cases for people to import drugs into the U.S. for personal use.

There are two concerns about having pharmacies in other countries fill prescriptions:

• Some products have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use and sale in the U.S.
• The FDA cannot ensure the safety and effectiveness of medicine purchased over the internet from a foreign country.

When buying medication online, consumers should know where the product is coming from and that the medicine is being sold by a pharmacy that is located and licensed in the United States.

Canadian online pharmacies 

Canada does have a reputation for having safe and affordable medicines. But the FDA found that nearly 85 percent of drugs sold from pharmacies claiming to be “Canadian” actually come from other countries. The medicines consumers receive from these fraudulent websites are not inspected by Canadian health officials and may not be up to the same standards legal American and Canadian pharmacies must meet.