In the past few years, more and more people have been buying prescription drugs over the Internet; however, the FDA is cautioning consumers about the dangers associated with buying drugs online. The FDA alert is based on information it received indicating that 24 apparently related Web sites may be distributing counterfeit prescription drugs.
Xenical, an FDA-approved drug prescribed to help obese individuals lose weight, is one of the drugs that consumers thought they were buying but actually got a counterfeit version instead. Three different consumers in three states in recent months bought what they thought was Xenical, but instead, they received a counterfeit version in the mail.
The FDA investigation is on-going, but at this point, it appears that the Web sites selling the counterfeit Xenical are operated from outside the United States. We have a partial list here of the Web sites being investigated, but a full list of the 24 sites that may be involved in the distribution of counterfeit drugs is available on the FDA web page www.fda.gov/buyonline/:
AllPills.net
Pharmacy-4U.net
DirectMedsMail.com
Brandpills.com
Emediline.com
RX-ed.com
RXePharm.com
PillsPharm.com