Bargain Drugs Can Be Fake Drugs

WSBTV, Channel 2, an Atlanta, Georgia, television station found that bargain drugs ordered online, supposedly from Canada, are often bogus and manufactured in China or South America.

WSBTV, Channel 2, an Atlanta, Georgia, television station found that bargain drugs ordered online, supposedly from Canada, are often bogus and manufactured in China or South America.

Consumer investigator Jim Strickland traveled to Monteria, Colombia and followed federal police in a pharmacy raid. Officers had been tipped off that the place was peddling counterfeit antibiotics. Agents said they found different sized ampules in a single box. The small containers had been emblazoned with counterfeit labels and repackaged in a bogus boxes, reported WSBTV.

In addition, they found counterfeit children’s vitamin tonic and blister packs of expired medicine re-bottled with false expiration dates.

A raid of the pharmacist's home found a makeshift lab near the pharmacist’s chicken coop full of bags of chemicals, empty capsules, bottles and labels.

As a second part of WSBTV's report, they ordered erectile dysfunction drugs from a website called “Official Canadian Pharmacy.” The pills ordered from the supposedly-Canadian website, which was registered in the Russian Federation, arrived from Hong Kong, with a false customs statement declaring that the contents were a gift of a battery charger. The blister pack of pills looked identical to true ED medication, however the packaging was pierced, and testing showed they contained 40% of the active ingredient.

WSBTV's program was a consumer awareness raising plan for Atlanta-area residents.