The FDA said the sites, which it did not name, may have been offering medicines to US citizens without a prescription or otherwise violating US laws. Shipments could be detained The letters, which were also sent on paper, warn the companies that future shipments may be detained from entering the United States. One recipient has already told the FDA it would cease illegal activities. Federal regulators and lawmakers are worried about possible health risks posed by some of the hundreds of online pharmacies. Others may be offering fraudulent or unapproved products.
Officials say the websites are difficult to track.
The Clinton administration has proposed bolstering FDA authority and manpower to investigate the sites and imposing fines. Also, it wants the power to certify pharmaceutical websites as legitimate. Richard Ley, a spokesman for the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said patients using online pharmacy services should be very cautious. He said there were question marks about the way online pharmacies carried out checks to ensure that a patient had received proper medical advice before dispensing prescription drugs. Also, one has to question whether patients are really getting what the website says they are getting.