This content was created by Robert Siciliano. This content was uploaded by Robert Siciliano. This is a YouTube news segment titled "DEA Warning Fake Drugs Being Sold By Fake Pharmacys Killing People" (Fox 5) reported by Duarte Geraldino on 2024-10-14. The clip covers DEA warnings about illegal online pharmacies dispensing counterfeit pills—often laced with fentanyl or meth—leading to deaths; it includes on-camera reporting and expert comments from Dr. Sophia Lubin, Dr. Parupariq, Dr. Sue Ojegar, and cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano, plus practical advice for verifying online pharmacies and checking medication packaging.
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hop online and find an internet pharmacy that's willing to sell you prescription drugs and deliver those drugs right to your door.
All right, but the feds say those medications may not be legit, and in fact, they could be deadly. Fox 5's Duarte Geraldino has a closer look at the warnings about fake pharmacies.
Scammers are flooding the online pharmacy market with dangerous concoctions that are at best useless and at worst deadly. Federal officials say one woman in the U.S. thought she was ordering oxycodone from an online pharmacy but what she got was laced with fentanyl. She died, and now the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is sounding the alarm. Have you seen patients who have used counterfeit drugs?
They're using drugs that they're buying online. They're not really sure exactly where they're coming from.
Dr. Sophia Lubin is an OB-GYN at Symphony Medical. She says as the online pharmacy business grows, so does the problem. According to a report from Akiva, illegal online pharmacies dispensed 85 million prescriptions in 2022. That's no surprise to cybersecurity security expert Robert Siciliano.
I'm not at all surprised that there's a counterfeit market, and it's going to get a lot bigger due to the sheer volume of online drugs being sold today.
Precidents Research estimates the global market for legitimate online pharmacies is nearly $100 billion. Dr. Parupariq adds that the landscape is changing.
There are a lot of online pharmacies that, um, may be legitimate. Amazon is now moving to an online pharmacy, and then there's certain things like cost-plus drugs.
The DEA is reporting a sharp rise in fake pills sold online, often laced with fentanyl or methamphetamine and marketed as oxycodone and Adderall or Xanax. Dr. Sue Ojegar suggests making sure your doctor is directly involved if you use an online pharmacy.
If a doctor's office is sending it directly to an online source or pharmacy, then you know that that pharmacy is working in conjunction with the physician's office and they have some credibility.
And when you get your medication, medication, check if the packaging is broken or damaged. Duarte Geraldino, Fox 5 News.
