Learn 5 Kinds of Poison Found in Counterfeit Medications – Common household items you’d never ingest

During National Poison Prevention Week, every day we’re featuring a type of poison that investigators have found in counterfeit medications.

Learn more about heavy metals, actual poisons, and toxic household items that investigators have found in fake drugs purchased online by unsuspecting consumers.

Investigators have found all of these items in counterfeit medications. Floor wax gives a nice sheen to mimic an enteric coating, brick dust and paints fake the proper color of pills, and sheet rock can be made into pills. Common household items you’d never ingest have been found in counterfeit medications. Things we use in our lives, like house paint and floor wax, which are not edible, and not meant to be ingested.

Floor wax can contain formaldehyde which can cause vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, and in extreme cases can cause death. Brick dust can contain contain poisonous heavy metals and other chemicals. Paints can contain heavy metals for pigment, as well as hydrocarbons which are poisonous and can cause coma, blurred vision, rapid heartbeat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Paint thinner can get into bottles when it’s used to peel old labels off empty bottles for re-use. Paint thinner can cause nervous system disruption, including coma, respiratory difficulty and gastrointestinal distress.

IMPACT: Vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, blurred vision, respiratory difficulty, nervous system disruption, coma, death.

Learn about heavy metals and actual poisons found by researchers and investigators in counterfeit medications in parts 1 and 2 of this series for National Poison Prevention Week.

Learn more about how to purchase medication safely online from our pamphlet “Save Money Safely From Online Pharmacies.” And ask your doctor, nurse and pharmacist if they’ve read the six steps to becoming a LEADER in the fight to protect patient safety.