ORDERING PRESCRIPTION LICENSING IS KEY MEDICINES ONLINE Buying your prescription medicine from a Buying medicine on the can be licensed by the California State risky: Ninety-seven percent of online Board of Pharmacy is the best way to be don’t comply with pharmacy sure it is safe. All pharmacies, including laws and standards. Here are some tips online pharmacies, that dispense when purchasing online: prescription medicine to California patients must be licensed in California to • Check to see if the pharmacy is licensed by protect patients’ health and safety. the California State Board of Pharmacy at www.pharmacy.ca.gov. • Look for “.pharmacy” in the website address, which is a top-level domain (like “.com” and COUNTERFEIT “.net”) used by pharmacy-related entities that have been verified as safe and PRESCRIPTION legitimate. • Use only pharmacy websites DRUGS displaying the Verified PROTECT YOURSELF, Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) seal. This guarantees the YOUR FAMILY, pharmacy is licensed and sells FDA-approved AND YOUR PETS medicine. To find a VIPPS online pharmacy, go to www.nabp.pharmacy. These used bottles and vials, seized during a raid in Colombia, were being washed for reuse to hold • Make sure a valid prescription is required and counterfeit medicines. not available from an online doctor who is linked to the site. Licensed pharmacies are regulated and • Beware of very low prices and locations inspected. Under California and federal outside the . laws, it is illegal to sell prescription medicine without a valid prescription. • Make sure a licensed is available Also, if a pharmacy is in a state outside of to answer questions. California and sells to California residents, • Check if there’s a physical address, phone it must be licensed in both its home state number or other contact information listed. and California. Many medicines bought from websites that hide their physical address are counterfeit, according to the World Health Organization. Also, many online pharmacies say they are in Canada because people assume Canadian CALIFORNIA STATE medicine is safe, but the pharmacies or BOARD OF PHARMACY medicine they sell are really 2720 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 100 located in another country. Sacramento, CA 95833 Phone: (916) 518-3100 Fax: (916) 574-8618 www.pharmacy.ca.gov PDE_19-377 Revised: 11/19 IS IT A FAKE? This counterfeit drug manufacturing site in China produced fake Viagra and other drugs that were sold to customers in Europe and the United States. Counterfeits often look exactly like real You see an ad for medicine and can even fool health care professionals. Here are some signs that prescription medicines your prescription drugs could be counterfeit: at half of what you now pay. • The container label has a name for Sounds tempting— a drug you did not order. but be careful. • The pills are chipped or cracked. • The container and packaging have changed. You could be buying counterfeit prescription • The label on the container is crooked. medicine or medicine that may be expired or contain the wrong dosage or none of the • Foreign language text appears on active ingredient. These medicines may not the label. work and could contain toxic ingredients that • The medicine is in a baggie, not a can cause allergic reactions, harmful side prescription container. effects or even death. • The drug looks or tastes differently LOWER YOUR RISK than it used to. COUNTERFEIT Unfortunately, the making and selling of • The drug causes a different reaction or counterfeit medicine happens and it’s hard DRUGS EXPLAINED does not work as well as the medicine to tell a fake without chemical testing. you are used to. Deadly ingredients that have been found in Be aware and protect yourself by always counterfeit medicine include rat poison, floor getting a prescription from a licensed wax, brick dust, sheet rock, house paint, road health care provider and filling it at a paint, paint thinner, boric acid, antifreeze, . ' f. r.: i .._ licensed pharmacy. Don’t buy medicines ·l r, rJ -~ ,- polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), ·~ off Craigslist or from street vendors. benzopyrenes, mercury, lead, cadmium, ... ._,.--- - - If you are traveling outside the United arsenic, chrome, uranium, strontium, selenium, States, be sure to take enough of your and aluminum. prescription medicines. Drugs in foreign countries may be counterfeit, or you may Counterfeit medicine can be generic or receive the wrong drug. brand-name and includes pet medicines, If you suspect you received counterfeit antibiotics, painkillers and drugs to treat medicine, contact the pharmacy where you erectile dysfunction, weight loss, heart Lipitor, a statin used to control cholesterol, is a Pfizer drug that is often counterfeited. Counterfeit pills, at purchased it and notify: conditions, mental health issues, HIV, AIDS, left, are placed next to real pills, at right, for diabetes, and cancer. comparison. It is hard to tell a counterfeit just by looking at it, so only buy from a legitimate pharmacy. •The California State Board of Pharmacy, (916) 518-3100, These fake medicines often come from www.pharmacy.ca.gov countries where government enforcement 0 F CALIFORNIA STAT ■ is weak, but they can be manufactured a •The U.S. Food and Drug Administration anywhere. (FDA), (800) 332-1088, mAORB CleOEPART MENT o,r CONBUMER www.fda.gov