29-May-2015

​A mere 3 percent of online pharmacies are safe and legal, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ABC’s 20/20 aired an episode in May 2015 about a different kind of illegal drug trade: the sale of illegal prescription drugs. Libby Baney, senior director in FaegreBD Consulting’s health and biosciences team and executive director of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, was interviewed on 20/20 about online pharmaceutical safety.

“The World Health Organization has found that one in two medicines, or 50 percent, sold online are counterfeit,” Baney said. “It’s hugely dangerous. There is boric acid, lead, highway paint in these medicines. And the medicines they are selling you aren’t coming from Canada.”

Baney also offered tips for verifying the legitimacy of drugs purchased online.

Read a summary of the 20/20 episode and view video here.