Facts About Online Drug Sellers

• A recent review of more than 11,000 websites selling prescription medications to U.S. consumers found approximately 96% appear to be in conflict with U.S. laws[1]; 89% of illegal online pharmacies don’t require a prescription;[2] and 20 new websites selling prescription medicines are launched every day.[3]

• 65% of online search results for prescription drugs lead U.S. consumers to illegal and unsafe websites.[4]

• Buying prescription medicines from illegal online pharmacies increases the risk of credit card and identity theft.[5]

• Nearly one in four adult consumers has purchased prescription medicines online and almost one in five of those indicated that they bought from a website that was not associated with a local pharmacy or health insurance plan.[6] 

• 50% of medicines sold online by pharmacy websites that hide their physical street address are fake.[7]
• Products sold by illegal online drugs sellers often contain little or no active ingredients, are manufactured in unsafe conditions, and/or contain floor wax, mercury, concrete, chalk, boric acid, road tar, paint, anti-freeze and other deadly poisons.[8]

Facts About Counterfeit Medicines

• Worth $200 billion a year, the market for counterfeit pharmaceuticals now eclipses almost everything else in the underground economy, including prostitution, human trafficking and illegal arms sales.[9]

• It is estimated that up to a third of the world’s prescription drugs are counterfeit, although this figure is closer to two-thirds in some developing countries.[10],[11] Of these, more than half are classified as “lifesaving”, such as treatments for cardiovascular disease, central nervous system disorders and anti-infectives.[12]

[1] Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, 2016

[2] Buying Medicine Online – What Are the Risks, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy

[3] The Internet Pharmacy Market in 2016, LegitScript and the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies, January 2016

[4] Online Pharmacy Market Spotlight Report: The United States, ASOP Global and LegitScript, July 2016

[5] What You Need to Know Before You Buy Prescription Medications Online, Disease Management, 2015

[6] Buying Prescription Medicines Online, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2013

[7] Buying Medicine Online – What Are the Risks, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy

[8] Poisons Found in Counterfeit Medicines, Partnership for Safe Medicines, 2012

[9] Counterfeiting: An Industry Three Times Larger than the Illicit Global Drug Trade, Sophic Capital, 2014

[10] Counterfeiting: An Industry Three Times Larger than the Illicit Global Drug Trade, Sophic Capital, 2014

[11] Counterfeit Medicines and the Role of IP in Patient Safety, IP Watchdog, 2016

[12] Counterfeit Drug Penetration into Global Legitimate Supply Chains, American Journal of Tropic Medicine and Hygiene, April 2015