Some Canadian Web Sites Sell Counterfeit Drugs

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Sep 01, 2006

Some Canadian Web Sites Sell Counterfeit Drugs

Katharine Davis

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to buy prescription drugs from certain Canadian Web sites because some drugs sold on these Web sites were found to be counterfeit.

The Internet pharmacies in question are those that have their orders filled by a company called Mediplan Prescription Plus Pharmacy or Mediplan Global Health, which is based in Manitoba, Canada. They include the following sites:

www.canada-meds-for-less.net
www.canada-pharmacy.com
www.canadian-safe.com
www.canadiandrugstore.com
www.canampharmacy.com
www.my-canada-pharmacy.com
www.northcountryrx.com
www.NLRX.com
www.rxbyfax.com
www.rxnorth.com

FDA investigators intercepted shipments of drugs ordered from these Web sites and analyzed the drugs. The investigators found counterfeit versions of several drugs, including the cholesterol-lowering drugs atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor), rosuvastatin (Crestor), and ezetimibe (Zetia); the blood-pressure-lowering drugs valsartan (Diovan) and losartan plus hydrochlorothiazide (Hyzaar); the arthritis pain reliever celecoxib (Celebrex); and the osteoporosis drug risedronate (Actonel).

Counterfeit drugs are not manufactured according to FDA standards, so they may contain too little or too much of the active ingredient or may be contaminated with harmful ingredients. If you have purchased drugs from the Web sites listed above, the FDA strongly recommends that you do not use them.

POST A COMMENT E-MAIL A FRIEND

This may be legit but I would question wether the FDA is being pressured by the big drug companies to stop people from buying their drugs cheaper from Canada. There's no way better to make people buy from the US than to scare them into believing they are buying something bad. It's funny how many execs from the FDA go to work for the big drug companies after they leave the FDA. Conflict of interest? Makes you wonder.

Posted by: J | Sep 07, 2006 10:29 PM

FDA is rightly stopping those buying online drugs because after all not everyone can be trusted.

Posted by: Snazzy | Oct 28, 2006 06:19 AM

It is irresponsible to display these false accusations.
The FDA was unable to prove or even explain their allegations.
It does not seem coincidental that the pharmacy singled out was the biggest, oldest and most successful in Canada, and thus the greatest threat to Big Pharma.
I agree with "J".
As for the remark that "not everyone can be trusted", perhaps the FDA should be included as one agency that "cannot be trusted".
A little follow-up reading about this matter will show why.

Posted by: CF | Mar 29, 2007 10:59 AM

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