CNN is reporting that the FDA is warning Americans to “avoid buying treatments for the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, online.” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said, “Products that are offered for sale online with claims to diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus must be carefully evaluated.” I would say, “They must be avoided.”
The FDA Commissioner says, “Medicines purchased from Websites operating outside the law put consumers at increased risk due to a higher potential that the products will be counterfeit, impure, contaminated or have too little or too much of the active ingredient.”
Dow Jones Newswire reports that the FDA purchased several products claiming to be Tamiflu, but none actually were. The FDA recommended that consumers only buy products to treat the H1N1 flu from licensed pharmacies in the US.
The Los Angeles Times “Booster Shots” blog reports, “Products advertised as being Tamiflu or other antiviral drugs are particularly suspicious, especially if they can be ordered without a prescription from a physician.”
The FDA also noted that “drugs ordered to treat swine flu would most likely not arrive in time to be of any benefit.”
If you have ANY question about any product, check it out with your pharmacist or physician.