Lorrie Dawson's first concern was how much she will now have to pay for her medicine after hearing the government ordered the shutdown of Canadadrugs.com.
Then she found out why it was shut down, and worries about what the online pharmacy put in her pill bottle the last few years.
The indictment accused the online pharmacy of selling fake meds, unapproved and mislabeled drugs. All shipped from Canada into the United States.
A federal case that started with a drug called Avastin, used to treat late-stage cancer, the FDA discovered some patients were getting a drug with no active ingredient.
Shabbir Limber Safdar is the executive director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines. He says foreign pharmacies are able to cut prices because they are not selling fake drugs. Safdar explained that the Avastin that Canadadrugs.com sold may have come from Syria or Turkey.
Dawson pays $31 a month for her prescription, that will jump to $112 at a US pharmacy. She says Canada Drugs recently offered to sell her a year supply of her medicine before they close on July 13.
According to the FDA, they’ve identified 55 to 65 counterfeit drugs making their way to Florida from foreign pharmacies. Some of them used to treat common issues like arthritis and asthma.
So how do you protect yourself? Only buy from US licensed pharmacies. To save money use a search engine like www.goodrx.com.
