FDA issues another Web drug buying warning

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WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued another warning about buying prescription medications from Internet retailers.

The FDA said counterfeit versions of Xenical 120 mg capsules, a drug manufactured by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., were obtained by three consumers from two Web sites. Xenical is an FDA-approved drug used to help individuals who meet certain weight and height requirements lose weight.

FDA laboratory analyses showed none of the capsules ordered from the Internet contained orlistat, the active ingredient in authentic Xenical. In one case, samples of the drug obtained from two of the Internet orders were composed of talc and starch.

According to Roche, the counterfeit samples displayed a valid Roche lot number of B2306 but were labeled with an expiration date of April 2007. The correct expiration date for that lot number is March 2005.

Roche identified the Web sites involved in the incident as brandpills.com and pillspharm.com. The FDA said those Web sites are two of 24 sites that appear on the pharmacycall365.com home page under the "Our Websites" heading.