Credit: Renee E. Lucas

The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has been making good its promise to increase surveillance of unlawful sales of medicines over the Internet. Within the last few weeks, it has taken steps to stop four companies from selling laetrile online. The companies claim that the compound acts against cancer, but according to the FDA, it is neither effective nor safe.

The agency has succeeded in forcing New York-based Christian Brothers Contracting to sign a permanent injunction in which it agrees to stop selling laetrile. Christian Brothers had been distributing laetrile products online despite a court order to cease selling the goods. Last year, the company had to pay $600,000 in damages for sending emails to America Online subscribers peddling laetrile as a cancer cure. Two other Internet companies based in Florida and one in Arizona have also been issued with preliminary injunctions barring sales of laetrile products.

The FDA has significantly expanded its investigations of so-called “rogue sites” and to support its Internet enforcement activities, President Clinton requested an additional $10 million for the FDA's 2001 budget, of which Congress has appropriated $5 million. Bills have been introduced into the Senate and House of Congress that would require that online pharmacies be certified as meeting state and federal laws and that they post information enabling visitors to determine where the pharmacy is located and who operates it. The proposed legislation would give FDA administrative subpoena authority enabling it to investigate potentially illegal Internet drug sales more rapidly and effectively.

More than 22 million Americans used the Internet in 1999 to find medical information, and just as a growing proportion of people are turning to the web to buy books, gifts and groceries, increasing numbers are also buying medicines online. Though several legitimate pharmacy groups trade on the web, there are also many companies that sell unapproved new drugs, prescription drugs dispensed without a valid prescription, and products marketed with fraudulent health claims.

Laetrile is one of a handful of compounds sold over the Internet that the FDA has acted against. Others include a compound made from shark cartilage sold as a treatment for cancer, a glyco alkaloid skin cream sold as a treatment for skin cancer, and a rice bran extract sold as a treatment for cancer and HIV.