Friday, March 05, 2010

Online medicine comes with risks

From the Montreal Gazette:
From clothing and books to groceries and dog food, it seems like you can buy just about anything online today.

But people looking to save a buck might get more trouble than they bargained for by purchasing medications and natural products online.

"If it seems too good to be true, it usually is," said Michel Caron, a pharmacist at Ordre des Pharmaciens du Quebec. "The risks of buying medications online are enormous."

Many websites claim to be selling brand name prescription drugs at discounted prices. The main problem, Caron said, is that people don't know what they're actually getting when they order medications from a website.

"There is a huge market for counterfeit drugs online," he explained. "These pills may resemble the genuine ones but many of them don't even contain medication; they're flour or sugar pills."

Some of the most popular counterfeit pills are lifestyle medications such as those for erectile dysfunction. ...more

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