Avoiding counterfeit drugs

As Americans look for ways to save money on prescription drugs, a recent survey of 12,000 online pharmacies found that 95 percent of them posed safety concerns to customers, including selling knock-off versions of real medications, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reports.

Here are tips from the department to help you stay safe if you buy medications online:

1. Use only legitimate websites.
   Check out safe.pharmacy to verify whether a site is safe or not recommended.
2.  Have a prescription. 
   Legitimate pharmacies always require a prescription from a health-care provider.
3. Know the red flags. 
   Avoid websites that: allow consumers to buy prescriptions by simply completing an online questionnaire; offer drastically discounted prices; offer drugs that make exaggerated claims of providing cures for chronic or life-threatening illnesses; or offer to ship prescriptions from other countries to the United States.

The Food and Drug Administration offers additional resources at BeSafeRx at fda.gov. Visit fraud.org if you encounter a medication that you suspect to be a fake.