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Consumer Reports Prescription Drugs Editor Lisa Gill on the dangers from websites selling fake drugs and how consumers can protect themselves.
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In focus tonight went -- hazardous to your health.
The FDA cracking down on thousands of online pharmacies selling fake.
Drugs and not just -- regular folks like you and me but also to medical professionals.
Lisa -- the prescription drug editor for consumer reports joins me now -- welcome to the show.
So what I saw these numbers they blew me away 181000 web sites they tried to shut down.
With counterfeit drugs what is the risk of these drugs being sold to the public there are a couple of risk.
Actually one of them is that.
The medication.
And I can be pretty dangerous for things pitting medication that you need your system over a long period of time.
Second thing is some is medications can have dangerous.
Agents or chemicals and then that are not even anything that you would normally been put in your body so that you -- that you you can yourself you can really.
Our -- a look at some of the drugs that seized by the FDA and from the structural now Viagra.
Accutane.
And generic Tamiflu in the interesting thing about this is it contains the wrong active ingredients so it's one of the things you were just describing.
Since you can really buys just -- that anything you want on line and it could be.
Focus right.
Right so what does one think that happens -- you can go online and not -- and it should tell you exactly how to get the what's scary is that you don't need prescription sometimes.
You wow and that's that's -- really one of the first key sort of you can tell the fake web -- when you go on and there's no prescription required can't talk to pharmacists.
I mean.
It that's it about.
That's the clue are so are there other ways you can tell that that drug that these sites are bogus.
If they don't require prescription -- There's nobody to talk to what else right so if it's outside the United States and that this is one of the key features this -- think about that the FDA was really trying to get that.
Where these sites that are located.
Not just maybe in Canada have been or even pretending to be -- that there were all over the world so if it's not.
If there's not actual address in the United States that's a pretty key.
Red -- -- to these is that the aliens illegal drugs are much cheaper that you would find here to take a look at these prices we have a Pulitzer bolstering called -- are acts.
You can see Viagra is about half the price that it would regulate it it's a big attraction.
Particularly for seniors who are on.
You know -- income fixed income they can't do anything about it.
That's a critical thing.
The most interesting thing said the break I thought was that.
The FDA sent letters out to these website asking them to close that they didn't necessarily the right so they they sent letters to the actual.
Places they also sent them to the Internet service providers of these web site.
Demanding that they be shut down so it's and it's it's a process -- they are made -- an hour and even if they do actually.
Become shut down there they're like cockroaches they just multiply watch -- go to your doctor get the prescription.
Go somewhere you can trust to -- it back and get it filled pilots expense about their -- really answer session for Americans to spend twice as much of the rest of the world actually on prescription drugs.
Well we're gonna change that -- thanks for coming on tonight thank them.
