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Consumer
Education:
Buying Medicine and Medical Products Over the Internet
Use of the Internet to buy medical
products is growing rapidly. Many consumers benefit from the
convenience and privacy of this new option. Unfortunately, both
consumers and legitimate pharmacies are now being threatened by the
“rogue sites” of fraudulent or disreputable Internet businesses that
sell products illegally. While FDA is working to combat these
illegal sites, these educational products can help to educate
consumers on how to safely and legally buy medical products online.
To obtain printed copies of any of these materials, please email your request
by title to: dpapubs@fda.hhs.gov. You
can also call 301-796-3703 or 1-888-INFO-FDA.
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The following links are are text
documents. You can also view the graphic versions (if
available) by going to the "All
Graphics and Other Media" page. |
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"Buying Prescription
Medicines Online: A Consumer Safety Guide. Buying your medicine
online can be easy. Just make sure you do it safely."
Some Web sites sell medicine that may not be safe to use and
could put your health at risk. This guide includes tips and
resources to help you buy medicines safely and securely over the
Internet. This plain language guide is an updated version of the
2000 guide.
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"Reporting Unlawful Sales
of Medical Products on the Internet."
This is a
reporting site consumers can use to report Web sites that they
suspect are illegally selling human drugs, animal drugs,
medical devices, biological products, foods, dietary supplements or
cosmetics over the Web.
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"FDA Consumer Safety
Alert: "Don't buy these drugs
over the Internet or from foreign sources."
This one-pager is a list of twelve medicines that have known
serious side effects. If these drugs are bought over the
Internet or from foreign sources, these safety controls are
bypassed, placing patients who use these drugs at higher risk.
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"The Possible Dangers of Buying Medicine Online." This consumer feature article from July 2007 discusses how consumers can protect themselves by shopping online safely.
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"Use
Caution Buying Medical Products Online." This FDA Consumer
article from Jan/Feb 2005 can help you protect yourself when
buying prescription drugs, dietary supplements, and medical devices
over the Internet.
- "Cracking Down on Health Fraud." This FDA Consumer article from Nov/Dec 2006 describes the FDA partnership with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to identify potentially fraudulent advertising aimed at Spanish-speaking consumers and other partnerships and regulatory actions FDA is taking to combat health fraud. A list of red flags is provided that can help consumers learn to avoid becoming victims of health fraud.
- "Agencies Team Up in War Against Internet
Health Fraud."
This FDA Consumer article from Sept/Oct 2001 describes
Operation Cure-All, a partnership of the Federal Trade
Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada (the
Canadian federal health department), and various state attorneys
general and state health departments. The partnership combines a law
enforcement effort with a consumer education campaign. It describes
how to spot a health fraud and how to report suspicious sites.
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"Buying Drugs Online: It's
Convenient and Private, but Beware of 'Rogue Sites'."
This FDA Consumer article, updated in March 2001, describes
the risks of buying medicines online. It explains what consumers
can do to protect themselves, including checking for the VIPPS®
program that provides consumers with credentials about legitimate
Internet pharmacies.
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"How to Spot Health
Fraud." This
FDA Consumer article from Nov/Dec 1999 describes
health fraud, (drugs, devices, foods, or cosmetics for human or
animal use of unproven effectiveness that are promoted to improve
health, well being or appearance) and gives “tip-offs to rip-offs,”
with examples.
- "Operation Cure-All" is a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) law enforcement and consumer education campaign. This FTC Web site offers information for consumers on how to recognize and report health fraud and provides additional consumer resources.
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"FTC Consumer Alert: Offers to
Treat Biological Threats: What You Need to Know."
This article
from October 2001 on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Web site,
produced in cooperation with the FTC and the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC), informs consumers against buying products over the
Internet from sellers who claim that their products will protect
you from biological threats.
For more information about buying medicines and medical products
over the Internet, please visit the FDA pages, “Buying Medicines and
Medical Products Online,” at
www.fda.gov/oc/buyonline/default.htm. and "Buying Medical
Devices Online," at
www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/buyingmeddevonline.html
For related topics, see the FDA web sites:
"Importing Prescription Drugs" at:
www.fda.gov/importeddrugs
"Combating Counterfeit Drugs" at
www.fda.gov/counterfeit
“Consumer Education: Generic Drugs” at
www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/generic_text.htm
“Office of Generic Drugs” at
www.fda.gov/cder/ogd
"How to Evaluate Health Information on the Internet" at
www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/evalhealthinfo.html
All
graphics and other media on Buying Medicine and Medical Products
Over the Internet
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Date created: August 26, 2004, updated April 1, 2008
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