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Assessing website pharmacy drug quality: safer than you think?
1American Enterprise Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. RBate@aei.org
Plos One
|August 24, 2010
Summary
Purchasing medication online carries risks. While most tested drugs from reputable websites were safe, some from unverified sites failed quality tests, highlighting the need for caution and reliance on trusted sources.
Area of Science:
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Online Health
- Consumer Safety
Background:
- Internet-sourced medications are frequently counterfeit, with over 50% of drugs from sites lacking physical addresses being suspect.
- Regulatory bodies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collaborate with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) to identify high-risk online pharmacies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality and purchasing experience of popular drugs obtained from various online pharmacies.
- To compare drug quality based on website ratings from credentialing agencies like the NABP.
Main Methods:
- Five popular drugs were purchased from websites categorized by NABP ratings.
- Drug samples were assessed for price, purchasing conditions, and quality using Raman spectrometry against U.S. brand formulations.
- Website legitimacy and shipping origins were also documented.
Main Results:
- Significant variations in pricing and purchasing conditions were observed across websites.
- Some websites substituted ordered drugs or failed to deliver any medication.
- Of the drugs that could be assessed, 0% failed from "approved" or "legally compliant" websites, while 8.6% failed from "highly not recommended" and unidentifiable websites.
Conclusions:
- All assessed drugs, except Viagra®, passed spectrometry testing.
- Failed drugs were often from unidentified sources, lacking clear manufacturing country or pharmacy location.
- Consumers can mitigate risks by using recommended credentialing agency lists and exercising due diligence regarding packaging and product appearance.
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