The Iowa Board of Pharmacy was made aware of a direct-to-consumer marking campaign, designed to lure unsuspecting Iowans to purchase brand and generic prescription drugs from foreign sources. The Board would like to remind Iowans of the potential dangers of purchasing prescription drugs from unregulated online pharmacies. While there are many established American-based online pharmacies that are properly licensed and operate legally, there are many more—often from other countries—that lure customers with artificially low prices or don’t require a prescription, and sell unregulated products that may be ineffective or even dangerous.

A drug may contain an incorrect active ingredient, the dosage may be wrong, it might not even contain the listed active ingredient, or it could include other ingredients that may cause harm. Pharmacies that ship prescription drugs into the state of Iowa must maintain licensure with the Board. The Board encourages consumers to utilize its online license verification to search for and verify licensed pharmacies when deciding to purchase prescription drugs.