November 1, 2007
A yearlong U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation into drugs mailed to the United States from foreign countries suggests that consumers are turning to Internet purchases for reasons other than saving money.
In many cases, the agency says, consumers are buying drugs online to avoid getting a prescription from their physician.
The FDA also says a sampling of imported drugs indicates that consumers continue to spend money unnecessarily on potentially risky drug products bought over the Internet.
The investigation found 88 percent of the 2,069 drug packages examined appeared to be prescription medicines available in the United States.
Of the remaining products, some were dietary supplements, some were foreign products with labeling that was illegible or incomprehensible, and some were medications not available in the United States.
Generics available
More than half of the products sampled have FDA-approved generic versions, likely sold at lower costs, according to earlier studies that have shown generics in the United States to be generally cheaper than a comparable drug in Canada or Western Europe, the FDA says.
The survey showed approved generic versions of approximately half (47 percent) of the sampled products can be bought for $4 at several national chain pharmacies, a price often lower than the shipping costs for the same drugs purchased online.
"The data lead us to believe that many people are buying drugs online not to save money but to bypass the need for a prescription from their doctor since these Web sites typically do not require the purchaser to have a prescription" said Randall Lutter, Ph.D., FDAs deputy commissioner for policy.
"In essence, they seem to be getting and using prescription drugs without a prescription, an intrinsically risky practice."
