WP/AP: Wrong Pills Shipped to Online Drug Buyers: Powerful antipsychotics

[DeepModem Mom]

Wrong Pills Shipped to Online Drug Buyers
Associated Press
Saturday, February 17, 2007; Page A11


Mailing envelope in which tablets were shipped; yellow tablets, and the
clear plastic bag in which they were contained. The ruler was placed
for size comparison purposes

Consumers who thought they were purchasing sleep aids, antidepressants and other drugs over the Internet instead were shipped a powerful antipsychotic, sending some unwitting victims to the emergency room, federal health officials warned yesterday.

The Food and Drug Administration said a number of consumers took the schizophrenia drug haloperidol after ordering other pills, including Ambien, a sleep aid, and the anxiety medications Xanax and Ativan. Others thought they were getting the antidepressant Lexapro.

Preliminary analysis of the pills, packaged in plain plastic bags and mailed in envelopes bearing Greek postmarks, suggest they contain haloperidol. The FDA said it had reports of several consumers who took the pills seeking emergency medical treatment for symptoms such as difficulty breathing, muscle spasms and muscle stiffness.

The FDA used the occasion to remind consumers of the possible dangers of buying prescription drugs online.

The FDA posted images of the suspect pills and their packages on its Web site -- http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/photos/haloperidol.html-- to help consumers identify any suspect product they may have received....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021601833.html

[HereSince1628]

1. Credible? Not? Maybe just big pharma's war to hold captive US consumers?

I thought most of the openly smuggled stuff actually came complete with the sort of commercial packaging we see in our own drug stores.

Would anyone trust something sent in a sandwich bag?

[EFerrari]

2. Well, I had to stop using our local Walgreens for the same reason.

And when I tried to file a complaint, no one would take it -- not at Walgreens and not at the state reg offices.

[bananas]

10. You can report it to the FDA online

at their "medwatch" site:
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/index.html

[EFerrari]

12. Good deal. Even if it feels like reports a henhouse distrubance

to the fox.

Good, we really need to get rid of this misAdministration. :(

[Warpy]

4. I've had scrips filled in Mexico and put into plastic baggies

The tablets looked like the same thing I get here and the effects were exactly the same.

I'd be leery of getting anything from eastern Europe, Africa, or even India, though.

[pecwae]

9. I've yet to have trouble

with meds from Mexico or South America. They have different names and markings, but I've notcied no difference in their efficacy from those sold in the states. I use a NZ pharmacy for dermatalogical items which are much cheaper, even with shipping, that what I would have to pay here.

India meds can be another story, though.

[brentspeak]

3. Some online pharmacies are more credible than others

The ones situated in Canada are usually trustworthy. They're professional, and the medications are actually manufactured in Canada.

[hedgehog]

5. We were sent the wrong medications by our insurance company's

mail order pharmacy. I gave them to my daughter thinking that they were the generic for what she was prescribed. Wrong! We got suspicious when she threw up within ten minutes of taking them two days in a row. They had shipped us a Parkinson's drug!

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Oh, man -- that's scary! And I'm not sure there's a way nonpharmacologists...

can know the differences in the appearance of the myriad of medications prescribed.

[hedgehog]

7. I was kicking myself for not double checking the drug name on the Web

when it hit me that I'm paying these people good money to get it right!

[DeepModem Mom]

8. That's true! nt

[bananas]

11. The Merck Manual has photos of almost all prescription drugs

or at least they used to.
Don't know if that's online, but there should be a copy at the library or local bookstore...
It would be nice if the FDA did that.

[DeepModem Mom]

13. Good idea! nt

[depakid]

14. You can also search google images

I know what all my pills look like... you'd have to be a fool to take something, even from your local pharmacy without knowing beforehand that it was what it was represented to be.

[aquart]

17. Or get the paperback Pill Book.

[flyingfysh]

15. there is a big catalog with photographs of all the pilla

Once my stepson was issued the incorrect medication by mistake, and at the emergency room the doctor was wondering if the lab was making a mistake in reporting a medication my stepson was not supposed to be taking. He wound up talking to my wife over the phone and asking her to describe the pills in the bottle, and comparing the description to photographs in the catalog.

[LeftyMom]

16. My grandmother had a book like that to help us keep all her chemo drugs straight

Here's the current version: http://www.amazon.com/Pill-Book-12th/dp/0553588923/sr=1-2/qid=1171758712/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-8676456-1201662?ie=UTF8&s=books

[DeepModem Mom]

18. Thanks, LeftyMom! nt

[bigworld]

19. nice packaging

That envelope looks like it was hardly from a reputable pharmacy. There's a big difference in ordering from a spam merchant and a legit internet pharmacy.

[area51]

20. FDA: "... to remind consumers of the possible dangers of buying prescription drugs online."

Hey, FDA, let me take a moment to remind you of why people buy pills online -- because we have an extremely expensive, broken, third-world medical care system in this country! The wealthy can get all the healthcare they need, and everyone else can go fsck themselves, thanks to our for-profit, medical care system. :mad: