FDA Deems Some Birth Control Patches Fake
I just saw this on the news:
WASHINGTON (AP) - An overseas Internet site is shipping counterfeit versions of a popular Johnson & Johnson birth control patch, versions that won't provide any protection against pregnancy, federal health officials warned Wednesday.
Do not use Ortho Evra patches - or any other drugs - ordered from the Web site www.rxpharmacy.ws the Food and Drug Administration warned.
While the contraceptive patch is the only drug so far proved a fake from that site, the FDA said consumers should consider its other products suspect, too. Contact a health provider immediately if you've used them, the FDA advised.
That Web site is the only known source of the counterfeit patches, said the FDA, which is investigating the fraud's source.
The site appeared to have shut down by Wednesday, but the FDA couldn't say how long it had been operating or how many U.S. women might have ordered the patches. It has no reports of pregnancies linked to them.
On the Net:
Pictures of the fake patches: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/photos/contraceptive/counterfeit. html
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP
There's more to the article, but here's the jist of it.
WASHINGTON (AP) - An overseas Internet site is shipping counterfeit versions of a popular Johnson & Johnson birth control patch, versions that won't provide any protection against pregnancy, federal health officials warned Wednesday.
Do not use Ortho Evra patches - or any other drugs - ordered from the Web site www.rxpharmacy.ws the Food and Drug Administration warned.
While the contraceptive patch is the only drug so far proved a fake from that site, the FDA said consumers should consider its other products suspect, too. Contact a health provider immediately if you've used them, the FDA advised.
That Web site is the only known source of the counterfeit patches, said the FDA, which is investigating the fraud's source.
The site appeared to have shut down by Wednesday, but the FDA couldn't say how long it had been operating or how many U.S. women might have ordered the patches. It has no reports of pregnancies linked to them.
On the Net:
Pictures of the fake patches: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/photos/contraceptive/counterfeit. html
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP
There's more to the article, but here's the jist of it.
