Shopping online for prescription drugs

KNXV-TV Phoenix (www.abc15.com)
Reported by: Daphne Munro
December 3, 2007

Shopping online for prescription drugs can definitely save you some cash. But what you don't know can be deadly.

The world health organization says thousands of prescription drugs sold are counterfeit.

Helen Malani, Chief Shopping Expert, says “You can even comparison shop to get a good deal. But we’re talking about your health here, and money alone should not be your number one priority.”

For years, the Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings about the dangers of counterfeit drugs sold on the internet. In Canada, coroners determined 58-year-old Marcia Bergeron died with 15-times the normal amount of aluminum in her liver. A result of a highly toxic cocktail of metals from drugs made of “poor quality manufacturing” (show coroner’s report).

Pharmacist Dennis Witherwax says, “Counterfeit drugs run the gamut. They can be anything from something that absolutely look like, taste like, smells like the real thing but isn’t the real thing to some very, very poorly manufactured products that one look at them and you say this is not it.” He says the differences can be microscopic, so take your prescription to your pharmacist and let them take a look at it.

But safeguarding yourself starts at the point of purchase. Experts recommend looking for a state licensed pharmacy that carries the verified internet pharmacy practice seal, or “VIPPS” for short, and ordering through sites that require a prescription. And if cost is still an issue, consider generics instead of brand name drugs.

The FDA says more than half of brand name drugs are now available as generics. Approved by the FDA, most generics have the same active ingredients and effects of brand name drugs at savings of up to 80-percent. To determine whether your prescription drugs have a generic equivalent, visit the FDA’s orange book for more details (www.fda.gov/cder/ob/).

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