N.H. warns against buying medicines from unregistered online pharmacies

Attorney General Joseph A. Foster last week released a consumer alert warning New Hampshire residents about the possible dangers of buying medicine from unregistered online pharmacies.

Prescription medicines purchased from unregistered online pharmacies may be fake or substandard, and possibly detrimental to consumers.

“Illegitimate online pharmacy websites often advertise significantly discounted name-brand prescription drugs or various 'miracle' cures for serious diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer’s,” Foster said in his consumer alert release. “These websites may appear to be based in Canada, but often the drugs ship from other overseas countries. These pharmacies operate outside of the federal and state pharmaceutical regulations that ensure the safety of prescription drugs.”

Drugs that are sold by unregistered pharmacies may: be out of date, be mislabeled, contain the wrong active ingredients or no active ingredient, be improperly stored, be contaminated, contain the wrong does, be unsafe, or lack approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy certifies online pharmacies as Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site, and such sites will have a VIPPS seal.

The consumer alert said that consumers should avoid sites that: don’t require a prescription, don’t have a licensed pharmacist available to answer questions, offer discounts or cheap prices that seem too good to be true, don’t list a physical business address or phone number, send “spam” advertisements for medications, are not registered with the state of New Hampshire, and are based outside of the United States.