A pharmacist group based out of Maryland is warning patients to stay clear of imposter medications that are working their way into relevancy as the United States experiences record drug shortages. The American Society of Health System Pharmacists, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, advised consumers to not be sucked in by the fear over shortages of key life-saving drugs and resort to using what could potentially be a dangerous product.

Various injectable cancer drugs are at the center of this growing problem. Shortages of these drugs are creating room for companies to manufacture knock offs that attempt to mimic the effects of the drug. These imposter drugs, however, are not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, therefore, it is unclear whether they are safe or not. Unapproved forms of Herceptin and Neupogen have already been made available to purchase by clinics and other healthcare providers.

The FDA has also cautioned health care providers that they must purchase only approved drugs via the appropriate sources. The reason that patients and healthcare providers might be willing to roll the dice with these forms of medicine is that the shortage of drugs have forced some hospitals to use less-effective medicine and treatment methods. The FDA hopes to remedy that to an extent by legally importing additional foreign life-saving drugs that are in short supply.

The FDA has also called on drug buyers to examine the sources that the products came from. Many of the illegal or unapproved drugs are peddled online. One telltale sign that a drug is either unapproved or illegal is if the manufacturer or wholesaler offers it for an unusually deeply discounted price.

Source: Bloomberg, "Drug shortages raise the risk of counterfeit cancer medicines, U.S. says," Anna Edney, Jan. 13, 2012