Fake Pharmacies a Serious Issue

In an international attempt to crack down on fake internet pharmacies, almost 1,700 websites peddling counterfeit drugs were recently shut down, yielding 58 arrests and the seizure of over $41 million in illegal medications. These sites were not in line with U.S. federal law, and their products could have been harmful and potentially life-threatening.

The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) cites Google ads as a contributing factor to this problem. The search engine giant shelled out $500 million in 2011 to avoid charges that it knowingly helped advertisers of rogue internet pharmacies. However, the NAAG says searches for online pharmacies still identify websites that are known to sell illegitimate drugs. Obviously, these medications are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. They are often delivered with little or no instructions, and the medicines themselves may have substances that vary from their bona fide counterparts. Some do not even contain the active ingredients needed to treat the conditions for which they were purchased.