COUNTERFEIT DRUGS AND COSMETICS ON THE RISE THROUGH ONLINE SUPPLIERS

According to US DEA report, hundreds of thousands of counterfeit prescription pills laced with a deadly synthetic opioid have infiltrated the US drug market, with the problem expected to escalate.

The pills are pressed using pharmacy-grade machines to look like known prescription painkillers that an increasing number of Americans addicted to opiods buy illegally. They contain various amounts of fentanyl – a synthetic drug between 50 and 100 times more powerful than morphine; even a few extra grains of the drug can prove deadly. Potent, unregulated, and, to the untrained eye, indistinguishable from pharmacy grade medication, the counterfeit pills put people who use painkillers for non-medical purposes – 4.3 million in 2014, according to the last federal.

This time, the epidemic is being sourced by chemists in Chinese laboratories. The DEA report reveals that many of these laboratories also produce pharmaceuticals that are sold legally in the US.  The story is the same for cosmetic products - there are more online suppliers from China and Hong Kong that are marketing counterfeit branded cosmetic products.

Herbally Radiant has been cautioning customers to avoid online purchases for branded cosmetic items unless these are sold by parent company. Just like drugs, you can find everything on the Internet. All the popular brand-name drugs and cosmetic products are readily available online at discounted prices.

Similarly, large number of online suppliers are also selling Essential Oils cheaply, with no reliability of their purity. Often, these are found to be finely adulterated either with vegetable oils or other substances.

The World Health Organization estimates as many as 50% of illicit online pharmacies are selling counterfeit medications and, still higher percentage of counterfeit skin care products. After sampling more than 11,000 internet pharmacies, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in the United States concluded that a staggering 96% of those pharmacies did not comply with NABP patient safety and pharmacy practice standards, or state and federal laws, and were deemed by the NABP as not recommended.

Consumers need to be cautious when they come across ‘too good to be true’, or ‘too cheap to be genuine’ cosmetic products, being offered on line with unverifiable claims.