Many Web Pharmacies May Pose as Canadian

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Many Web Pharmacies May Pose as Canadian

Los Angeles Times June 15, 2005

By Alonso-Zaldivar

About 1 in 5 online pharmacies offering discount prescription drugs

from Canada appears to be actually located in that country, raising

concerns that many may be peddling counterfeit or adulterated

medications, a report for the Food and Drug Administration has found.

We are looking at some of these sites to see if they are truly

pharmacy sites, or if this is somebody trying to fool consumers, "

said Tom McGinnis, the FDA's director of pharmacy affairs. " These

sites say `Canada' and have the Canadian maple leaf on them. But they

seem to be coming from places around the world, in which case we have

great concerns about the strength, quality and purity of the

medications. "

Of 1,009 online `Canadian' pharmacies examined by the cyber-security

from Cyvelliance, 214 " had any registration data indicating (an)

owner address located in Canada, " the company said in a news release

on its website.

Of the remaining 795, about 85% had registration information

indicating a U.S. owner, according to data supplied Tuesday by

company spokesman Todd Bransford.

The rest were registered in a variety of countries, including

Vietnam, and the Czech Republic. 87 online pharmacies registered in

Barbados had contact information in Las Vegas on their registration.

The FDA may take enforcement action to put some of the sites out of

business, McGinnis said.

The Bush Administration and the FDA are waging a campaign to counter

the importation of low-cost prescriptions from abroad, saying product

safety cannot be guaranteed.

But importation advocates say it can be done safely through

legitimate pharmacies, not questionable online operations.