Home » Politics & Society » Technology & U.S. Politics » U.S. warning against online Cipro sales having minimal effect

U.S. warning against online Cipro sales having minimal effect

© Alan Kotok

On 1 November 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent electronic letters to 11 Web vendors of the anthrax drug ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, which goes by the popular name Cipro, warning them that they violate U.S. law in marketing their goods to American consumers. Some 10 days after FDA sent the letters, however, most of the vendors appear to be ignoring the warning.

The FDA letters to the 11 sites, all outside the U.S., are part of a campaign to protect the American public against efforts by unscrupulous vendors to sell frightened consumers useless or potentially harmful drugs. But a search of the offending sites some 10 days after FDA sent the letters (in PDF format and by e-mail), show seven of the 11 sites still offer Cipro or the generic ciprofloxacin in dosages of 100 to 750 milligrams.

Minimal compliance reported

Four sites to whom FDA sent warning letters did not have Cipro or ciprofloxacin in their product listings. Of those four sites, two still listed the drug, but posted notices qualifying its availability. A British online pharmacy said it could not longer provide Cipro to American customers on advice from the FDA. A Mexican site said it could not longer offer Cipro “due to a supply shortage.” A Malaysian site still selling the drug put the onus on the buyers, asking them to “please check your country's importation laws before ordering this product.”

FDA contends that it cannot verify that the drugs marketed through these sites are manufactured to the FDA’s standards, and as a result, their sale and distribution in the U.S. would violate the law. The agency for some time has warned the public against buying drugs from foreign Web sites, but with the anthrax scare, the task has taken on new urgency. The FDA has also informed its counterpart agencies in countries where these Web sites reside of the potential violations and has advised the U.S. Customs Service that it may detain or refuse entry to shipments from these online pharmacies.

FDA staff may have more than the usual interest in the topic of anthrax and Cipro. In early November, investigators thought they had found anthrax traces in the FDA mail room, and started its mail room employees on antibiotics. Tests a few days later confirmed no anthrax bacterium in any FDA offices, and FDA advised its staff members they could stop taking the drugs.

Risks from online drug purchases

FDA lists several risks with buying unapproved Cipro, or other drugs, over the Internet:

The copyright of the article U.S. warning against online Cipro sales having minimal effect in Technology & U.S. Politics is owned by . Permission to republish U.S. warning against online Cipro sales having minimal effect in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.