Consumer Education: Buying Medicine and Medical Products Over the Internet

Use of the Internet to buy medical products is growing rapidly. Many consumers benefit from the convenience and privacy of this new option. Unfortunately, both consumers and legitimate pharmacies are now being threatened by the “rogue sites” of fraudulent or disreputable Internet businesses that sell products illegally. While FDA is working to combat these illegal sites, these educational products can help to educate consumers on how to safely and legally buy medical products online.

To obtain printed copies of any of these materials, please email your request by title to: dpapubs@fda.hhs.gov. You can also call 301-796-3703 or 1-888-INFO-FDA. 

• "Buying Prescription Medicines Online: A Consumer Safety Guide. Buying your medicine online can be easy. Just make sure you do it safely." Some Web sites sell medicine that may not be safe to use and could put your health at risk. This guide includes tips and resources to help you buy medicines safely and securely over the Internet. This plain language guide is an updated version of the 2000 guide.
   
  • En Español "Compra de medicinas recetadas a través del Internet: Una guía para el consumidor. La compra de medicinas recetadas a través del Internet puede ser muy fácil. Sólo tiene que cerciorarse que se haga de una forma segura." Some Web sites sell medicine that may not be safe to use and could put your health at risk. This guide includes tips and resources to help you buy medicines safely and securely over the Internet. This plain language guide is an updated version of the 2000 guide.
     
• "Reporting Unlawful Sales of Medical Products on the Internet."  This is a reporting site consumers can use to report Web sites that they suspect are illegally selling human drugs, animal drugs, medical devices, biological products, foods, dietary supplements or cosmetics over the Web.
   
  • En Español "Reporte de ventas ilegales de productos medicos a traves del Internet." This is a reporting site consumers can use to report Web sites that they suspect are illegally selling human drugs, animal drugs, medical devices, biological products, foods, dietary supplements or cosmetics over the Web.
     
• "FDA Consumer Safety Alert: "Don't buy these drugs over the Internet or from foreign sources."  This one-pager is a list of twelve medicines that have known serious side effects.  If these drugs are bought over the Internet or from foreign sources, these safety controls are bypassed, placing patients who use these drugs at higher risk.
   
• "The Possible Dangers of Buying Medicine Online." This consumer feature article from July 2007 discusses how consumers can protect themselves by shopping online safely.
  
  
• "Use Caution Buying Medical Products Online." This FDA Consumer article from Jan/Feb 2005 can help you protect yourself when buying prescription drugs, dietary supplements, and medical devices over the Internet.
  
  
• "Cracking Down on Health Fraud." This FDA Consumer article from Nov/Dec 2006 describes the FDA partnership with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to identify potentially fraudulent advertising aimed at Spanish-speaking consumers and other partnerships and regulatory actions FDA is taking to combat health fraud. A list of red flags is provided that can help consumers learn to avoid becoming victims of health fraud.
  
  
• "Agencies Team Up in War Against Internet Health Fraud."  This FDA Consumer article from Sept/Oct 2001 describes Operation Cure-All, a partnership of the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada (the Canadian federal health department), and various state attorneys general and state health departments. The partnership combines a law enforcement effort with a consumer education campaign.  It describes how to spot a health fraud and how to report suspicious sites.
   
• "Buying Drugs Online: It's Convenient and Private, but Beware of 'Rogue Sites'."  This FDA Consumer article, updated in March 2001, describes the risks of buying medicines online.  It explains what consumers can do to protect themselves, including checking for the VIPPS® program that provides consumers with credentials about legitimate Internet pharmacies.
   
• "How to Spot Health Fraud."  This FDA Consumer article from Nov/Dec 1999 describes health fraud, (drugs, devices, foods, or cosmetics for human or animal use of unproven effectiveness that are promoted to improve health, well being or appearance) and gives “tip-offs to rip-offs,” with examples.
   
• "Operation Cure-All" is a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) law enforcement and consumer education campaign. This FTC Web site offers information for consumers on how to recognize and report health fraud and provides additional consumer resources.
   
• "FTC Consumer Alert: Offers to Treat Biological Threats: What You Need to Know."   This article from October 2001 on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Web site, produced in cooperation with the FTC and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), informs consumers against buying products over the Internet from sellers who claim that their products will protect you from biological threats.

For more information about buying medicines and medical products over the Internet, please visit the FDA pages, “Buying Medicines and Medical Products Online,” at www.fda.gov/oc/buyonline/default.htm. and "Buying Medical Devices Online," at www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/buyingmeddevonline.html

For related topics, see the FDA web sites:
"Importing Prescription  Drugs" at: www.fda.gov/importeddrugs
"Combating Counterfeit Drugs" at www.fda.gov/counterfeit
“Consumer Education: Generic Drugs” at www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/generic_text.htm
“Office of Generic Drugs” at www.fda.gov/cder/ogd
"How to Evaluate Health Information on the Internet" at www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/evalhealthinfo.html