Consumer Tips

Buying drugs online

BBB warns consumers to be careful of websites offering weight loss drugs and supplements as well as online pharmacies. In many cases there is little way to know if the drugs are approved for use in Canada or to know the drugs origins.

It is dangerous to take a prescription drug without being examined in person and monitored by a health care practitioner to make sure the drug is helping you.

Risks Associated with Buying Drugs On Line

Buying drugs from Internet pharmacies that do not provide a street address and telephone number may pose serious health risks. You have no way of knowing where these companies are located, where they get their drugs, what is in their drugs, or how to reach them if there is a problem.

If you order from these sites, you may get counterfeit drugs with no active ingredients, drugs with the wrong ingredients, drugs with dangerous additives, or drugs past their expiry date. Even if these drugs do not harm you directly or immediately, your condition may get worse without effective treatment.

If you order prescription drugs without being examined and monitored by a health care practitioner, you may be misdiagnosed, and miss the opportunity to get an appropriate treatment that would help you. You may also put yourself at risk for drug interactions, or harmful side effects that a qualified health professional could better foresee.

Assuming that a weight-loss product is "safe" because it is "natural" - For example, an active component from a food substance can be extracted, concentrated, and manufactured or sold as a natural health product. While the original food may pose no risk when consumed in moderation, there could be significant risks in taking a much higher dose in the form of an extract. This may be true of certain natural health products containing highly concentrated green tea extract, some of which have been associated with serious liver problems, as opposed to the beverage, green tea, which is very safe.

Buying drugs on the Internet may also pose financial risks. In some cases, the product may not be shipped at all, or if it is coming from another country, it could be stopped at the border by Canadian authorities.

Minimizing Your Risk

Do not take any prescription drug that has not been prescribed for you by a health care practitioner who has examined you in person.

Do tell your doctor and pharmacist about all of the health products you take, including vitamin and natural health products, as well as prescription and over-the-counter drugs. They need this information to assess and advise you about potential side effects and drug interactions.

Assuming that a weight-loss product is "safe" because it is "natural" - For example, an active component from a food substance can be extracted, concentrated, and manufactured or sold as a natural health product. While the original food may pose no risk when consumed in moderation, there could be significant risks in taking a much higher dose in the form of an extract. This may be true of certain natural health products containing highly concentrated green tea extract, some of which have been associated with serious liver problems, as opposed to the beverage, green tea, which is very safe.

Buying drugs online

Do not do business with a website that refuses to give you a street address, telephone number, and a way of contacting a pharmacist; offers prescription drugs without a prescription, or offers to issue a prescription based on answers to an on-line questionnaire; claims to have a "miracle cure" for any serious condition; or
sells products that do not have a DIN (see below) issued by Health Canada.
Do make sure you are dealing with a Canadian-based Web site that is linked to a "bricks and mortar" pharmacy that meets the regulatory requirements in your province/territory.

Finally, if you have a question or complaint about therapeutic drug products purchased on line, call Health Canada's toll-free hotline: 1-800-267-9675