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Buying Medicine from Outside the U.S. is Risky Business


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It’s a gamble you can’t afford to take.

If you buy foreign medicine from an Internet site, from a storefront business that offers to order foreign medicine for you, or during visits outside the United States, you are taking chances with your health. Foreign dealers — who are not always pharmacists — can give you the wrong medicine, wrong strength, or wrong directions. The medicine can be old, fake, or contain dangerous ingredients.

The FDA cannot guarantee the safety of medicine bought from outside the United States.

Don’t play games with your health.


Check with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (www.nabp.net/vipps/consumer/listall.asp), or your local state board of pharmacy, to determine whether a Web site or online pharmacy is licensed and in good standing within the United States. You should report to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (www.nabp.net/vipps/consumer/report.asp) any adverse reactions you have had to a medicine purchased from outside the United States.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Food and Drug Administration

www.fda.gov/cder

Consumer Education: Buying Medicine From Outside the United States

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Date created: December 18, 2003; updated March 9, 2004

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