Bengaluru: US The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday warned public health officials and physicians about the potential risk of drug overdose among individuals who order counterfeit prescription drugs from online pharmacies.
Counterfeit pills sold by illegal Internet-based pharmacies often contain fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States, the health agency said.
About 95 percent of websites offering prescription drugs online operate illegally, the CDC said, citing data from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.
The US Department of Justice on Monday filed charges against several illegal online pharmacies that sold counterfeit prescription pills to thousands of people in the United States.
The CDC urges people to be wary of online pharmacies that operate without a license, don’t require a doctor’s prescription and offer deep discounts.
(Reporting by Maryam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Devika Shyamanath)
