Republished October 31, 2024
The internet makes it easy to order just about anything online. But caution should be taken when buying prescription medicines online.
The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) BeSafeRx: Your Source for Online Pharmacy Information provides resources for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals who may purchase medicines online to better understand who they are buying from, and that the medicine they buy matches what their doctor prescribed.
According to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), the risk of purchasing medicine from a rogue online pharmacy is high. NABP reports that less than 3 percent of online pharmacies meet state and federal laws.
Buying medicines from rogue online pharmacies can be risky. The medicine may be fake, expired, contaminated, or not approved by the FDA. Fraudulent and illegal online pharmacies often offer deeply discounted products. If the low prices seem too good to be true, they probably are. FDA’s BeSafeRx campaign is designed to help patients learn how to avoid these risks.
Fraudulent online pharmacies use sophisticated marketing efforts or phony website to appear legitimate. Patients who buy medicines from these websites may be putting their health at risk because the products may contain the wrong ingredients, contain too little, too much, or no active ingredient at all, or be made with other harmful ingredients.
Patients should only buy prescription medicine through online pharmacies that:
