Drugs sold on Internet found to contain haloperidol

Clinical Psychiatry News, April, 2007 by Elizabeth Mechcatie

The Food and Drug Administration has reissued its warning that buying prescription drugs online can be dangerous. The agency's latest move came after preliminary tests detected haloperidol in certain drugs purchased over the Internet.

Preliminary analyses determined that some orders of zolpidem (Ambien), alprazolam (Xanax), escitalopram (Lexapro), and lorazepam (Ativan), obtained by U.S. consumers over the Internet, actually contained the antipsychotic drug haloperidol (Haldol), the agency said in a statement.

The statement refers to reports of people who have had emergency medical treatment for symptoms such as muscle spasms, difficulty breathing, and muscle stiffness after taking the pills.

Although the affected consumers named several Web sites through which the products were purchased, identifying the vendors "is difficult because of the deceptive practices of many commercial outlets on the Internet," according to the statement.

The packages containing these products were postmarked in Greece, but that may not be where they originated.

The investigation is continuing, according to the FDA statement.

Photos of the tablets containing haloperidol and the packages are available at www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/photos/haloperidol.html.

Consumers who have purchased these drugs online and received tablets in packages that resemble those in the photos should submit a product quality problem report--or have their health care providers do so--at www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htm.

Information on buying medication online is provided at www.fda.gov/buyonline.

Last month, the regulatory agency recalled a dietary supplement that was available over the Internet because tests determined it contained tadalafil (Cialis), the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor marketed to treat erectile dysfunction.