Drugs
Buying Medicines 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.
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. |
- "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.
- En Español "Compra de medicinas recetadas a través del Internet: Una guía para el consumidor. La compra de medicinas recetadas a través del Internet puede ser muy fácil. Sólo tiene que cerciorarse que se haga de una forma segura." 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.
- En Español "Compra de medicinas recetadas a través del Internet: Una guía para el consumidor. La compra de medicinas recetadas a través del Internet puede ser muy fácil. Sólo tiene que cerciorarse que se haga de una forma segura." 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.
- "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.
- En Español "Reporte de ventas ilegales de productos medicos a traves del 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.
- En Español "Reporte de ventas ilegales de productos medicos a traves del 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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.