FDA issues more warning letters to opioid website operators
The FDA recently announced that is has issued warning letters to 17 website operators for illegally selling opioids that are unapproved or misbranded, meaning they were sold without a prescription or lacked adequate directions for use.
The letters are part of the FDA’s commitment to crack down on the illegal online sale of opioids, according to the agency. Last year, the FDA and Drug Enforcement Administration sent warning letters to four online networks that operated 10 websites for illegally marketing unapproved and misbranded versions of opioid medicines.
“Those who illegally sell opioids online put consumers at risk and undermine the significant strides we have made to combat the opioid crisis,” Donald D. Ashley, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a press release. “We remain committed to using all available tools to stop the illegal sale of opioids online to help protect consumers from these potentially dangerous products.”
The products that were illegally sold online include tramadol and oxycodone, according to the FDA. The warning letters were sent to:
- alpharoyalpharmacy.com;
- beststeroidstore.net;
- bluepillmedications.com;
- buydrugsmedsonline.com;
- genericpharmacyusa.com;
- globalpharmacystores.com;
- greenrxpharmacy.com;
- klasiekpharmacy.com;
- lekapharma.com;
- mega-pillspharmacy.com;
- melanopharmacy.com;
- roidsforce.com;
- rxeasymeds.com;
- skylimitpharmacy.com;
- Thomas Meds;
- uspharmacyshop.com; and
- xsteroids.com.
In addition to posing significant health risks to consumers, the FDA said illegal online pharmacies may carry other risks such as credit card fraud, identify theft and computer viruses.