Beware of Internet Offers of H1N1 Vaccine, FDA Says

With rampant fears about the H1N1 flu and widespread vaccinations now underway to treat the potentially deadly illness, some shady and unscrupulous characters are trying to take advantage and make a profit on the Internet.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to be careful when buying products over the Internet that are purported to prevent or cure the so-called “swine flu.” There are concerns that whatever is being sold over the web may either be contaminated or not actually contain legitimate vaccines, the FDA said.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the FDA is urging consumers to use “extreme care” when dealing with on-line offers of H1N1 vaccines.

FDA investigators recently purchased some H1N1-related items over the Internet, analyzed them, and found that the products purported to be Tamiflu vaccine were not the real thing. One box arrived postmarked from India and contained plain white tablets containing talk and an undisclosed painkiller, the FDA said.

With a shortage of Tamiflu and other H1N1 vaccines in supply, many consumers are combing the Internet trying to find the flu drug for their children or themselves. The FDA says doing so can be dangerous.

Since the flu remedies are in such high demand, consumers are “vulnerable to counterfeiting and diversion because buyers may be desperate to stock the product, and criminals capitalize on the situation,” the FDA warned.

The agency said consumers should only purchase products to treat the H1N1 influenza virus from licensed pharmacies in the United States.

The H1N1 virus has become a global pandemic since it was first noted in Mexico earlier this year. The illness has now been found in 41 states and about 76 children have died from the virus since April, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. government has purchased 95 million doses of H1N1 vaccines from drug companies for vaccinating citizens, particularly young children, pregnant women, and others who are at increased risk of infection.

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