Online Pharmacy and Counterfeit Drugs - what are the risks?

Faking it: Counterfeit Drugs at your local pharmacy!

In a recent press release by a Canadian internet pharmacy called Doctor Solve, "the book "Dangerous Doses" by Katherine Eban states that from 2000 to 2004, the FDA's criminal cases that involved counterfeiting increased almost tenfold, from six a year to 58. By the end of October 2004, 91 cases were open. The FDA conservatively estimates that about 35 million prescriptions annually are filled with something other than the prescribed drug."

The really interesting part is that these are prescriptions filled by their local pharmacies.

The article goes on to describe problems with the U.S. supply chain:

" 'One of the problems is the unregulated supply chain,' states Zickler. 'There is a large network of wholesalers who buy and sell drugs, and laws governing them are very loose. In some cases, one can set up shop with a nominal fee and a promise to adhere to storage rules.'

Recently, the FDA announced new rules that require medicines to be tracked every time they change hands from the manufacturer all the way to the pharmacy. Known as the "pedigree," the strict licensing process will involve background checks and a trackable paper trail. The new, long-overdue rules go into effect December 2006."

Canada's supply chain, on the other hand, is already heavily regulated. The chance of receiving counterfeit medications from an online internet pharmacy based in Canada is almost nil. In fact, according to their website, Doctor Solve regularly sends samples of the medications they dispense to an independant lab for testing. They probably don't have to do this but with the number of counterfeit drugs on the U.S. market, it's a good way to reassure their customers.

As with any press release, you have to watch for bias but you can certainly check out their sources which include the book mentioned above and NBC's dateline episode "Bitter Pills".