Only 59 of 8,353 Online Pharmacies Meet Proper Criteria

The percentage of “online pharmacies” deemed legitimate through the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s accreditation program is staggeringly low. Only 59 of 8,353 online pharmacies – or 0.7% – meet the criteria to be VIPPS-accredited. What are the risks associated with medicines ordered from non-accredited so-called pharmacy sites? Many fake online pharmacies offer foreign, non-FDA-approved drugs, operate out of compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws, and provide an outlet for counterfeit medicines to enter the U.S. drug supply – all of which significantly endanger the health and safety of Americans.

The counterfeit medicines peddled by these sites have been found to contain toxic, deadly ingredients while others don’t contain enough active ingredients at all to do what the medicine is supposed to do. Today, the counterfeit problem is largely outside the U.S. but the risk of more counterfeit drugs entering the U.S. could be heightened if our current closed, protected medicine supply chain by allowing medicine importation.

Learn more about the dangers of fake online pharmacies NABP’s latest study by clicking here.