FDA warns 17 websites selling opioids without prescriptions

The US medicines regulator has issued warning letters to 17 online pharmacies it says are supplying opioid drugs like tramadol and oxycodone without prescriptions.

The FDA says the crackdown is part of a wider effort to tackle the opioid crisis in the US, which resulted in more than 67,000 overdose-related deaths in 2018, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Worryingly, a sizeable proportion of those deaths are thought to have been caused by counterfeits containing fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, that are far more dangerous than the drugs they mimic. Counterfeit opioids have also been linked to the deaths of prominent public figures including Prince, Tom Petty and Mac Miller in recent years.

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“Opioid addiction and abuse have created an immense public health crisis, and the death toll is staggering,” says the agency in the warning letters. “FDA requests that you immediately cease offering violative drugs for sale to US consumers. This is critical to shielding the American public from harm.”

The warning letters were issued to:

• alpharoyalpharmacy.com
• beststeroidstore.net
• bluepillmedications.com
• buydrugsmedsonline.com
• genericpharmacyusa.com
• globalpharmacystores.com
• greenrxpharmacy.com
• klasiekpharmacy.com
• lekapharma.com
• mega-pillspharmacy.com
• melanopharmacy.com
• roidsforce.com
• rxeasymeds.com
• skylimitpharmacy.com
• Thomas Meds
• uspharmacyshop.com
• xsteroids.com

One of the letters – to IceNetworks Ltd, which operates the mega-pillspharmacy.com site – says it had been selling tramadol said to be made by Pharma Chemie Co, a product which has not been approved by the FDA.

Another to Thomas Meds notes that the company has been selling oxycodone as OxyNorm – said to be made by Mundi Pharma – which is also an unapproved drug in the US. Thomas Meds is linked to a dozen websites listed in the warning letter.

“Those who illegally sell opioids online put consumers at risk and undermine the significant strides we have made to combat the opioid crisis,” said Donald Ashley, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

“We remain committed to using all available tools to stop the illegal sale of opioids online to help protect consumers from these potentially dangerous products.”

Companies that fail to desist from selling potentially dangerous, unapproved and misbranded versions of the drugs may be subject to enforcement action, including product seizure or injunction.