FDA: Use "Extreme Care" Buying H1N1 Drugs on Internet
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a strong warning to consumers to "use extreme care" when purchasing products for coping with H1N1 flu over the Internet.

October 31, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- FDA: Use "Extreme Care" Buying H1N1 Drugs on Internet

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The Food and Drug Administration has issued a strong warning to consumers to "use extreme care" when purchasing products for coping with H1N1 flu over the Internet.

The FDA said sellers of these products make a wide variety of claims related to the diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure of the H1N1 influenza virus. The FDA warning was issued after the federal agency bought and analyzed products represented online as Tamiflu. The products included tablets obtained from India containing talc and acetaminophen, but not oseltamivir, the active ingredient in Tamiflu.

Other products purchased by the FDA did contain varying amounts of oseltamivir, but hadn't been approved for use in the United States. They also didn't arrive in time to be of use to anyone suffering from H1N1 or exposed to the virus, the agency said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommend the use of Tamiflu and Relenza (its active ingredient is zanamivir) for the treatment and prevention of infection with H1N1 flu. Both drugs can be obtained with prescriptions.

The FDA warns that counterfeit drugs often do little good, and sometimes harm, in treating illnesses. It says consumers who purchase prescription drugs on the Internet from companies operating illegally are at risk of potentially life-threatening side effects from impure, contaminated and unknown ingredients in the products. There are also risks of dangerous side effects from drug interactions and inappropriately used medications.

The agency stressed that the risks of these impure, potentially harmful drugs being sold on the Internet increases in the event of a public health emergency, in which demand for treatments for influenza would be high and where shortages from legitimate health care providers could occur.

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