Learn 5 Kinds of Poison Found in Counterfeit Medications – Drugs You Didn’t Ask For

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, toxic household items, and unsafe drugs substituted for safe ones that investigators have found in fake drugs purchased online by unsuspecting consumers.

Medication purchased online has been tested by researchers and found to contain substitute ingredients not approved by the FDA for medicinal use. Substitutes that may be cheaper may have been rejected by the FDA for use in people, or be untested, with potentially dangerous side effects and contraindications that aren’t known to the public. 

ED medication purchased online and purporting to contain sildenafil citrate, vardenavil or tadalafil, instead was tested by researchers and found to contain homosildenafil, hongdenafil, aminotadalifil, xanthoanthrafil and pseudovardenafil, chemicals not FDA approved for human consumption.

Consumers who purchased Ambien, Xanax, Lexapro or Ativan instead received foreign versions of haloperidol, a powerful anti-psychotic drug. As a result, these customers needed emergency medical treatment for symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, muscle spasms, and muscle stiffness—all problems that can occur with haloperidol.

Also people who thought they were ingesting a popular, FDA approved weight-loss drug purchased online found instead they were ingesting a fake with dangerous levels of sibutramine, with serious consequences, including stroke.

IMPACT: Difficulty in breathing, muscle spasms, and muscle stiffness, high blood pressure, stroke.

Learn about heavy metals, actual poisons and toxic household ingredients found by researchers and investigators in counterfeit medications in parts 1, 2 and 3 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.