FDA Alert! Bogus Alli Being Sold Online

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has raised a caveat to be wary of the counterfeit copies of the widely bought non-prescription weight loss drug Alli that is being sold online and could have detrimental outcome on weight-watchers.

The discovery of these fake copies is being marketed on online auctioning websites like eBay. They are being solely vended in sixty milligrams, 120-count refill sachets and bear considerable similarity to the real Alli.

GlaxoSmithKline, in-charge of making the FDA-accepted version of the drug mentioned that the bogus Alli has a constituent known as Sibutramine which must not be consumed without the doctor’s supervision and might have potentially grave counter-reactions with other types of prescription medicines. However, these fake drugs do not have orlistat – the key constituent present in GSK’s product, Alli and Xenical being manufactured by Roche. On the contrary, fake Alli has sibutramine as its components.

Sibutramine is the key constituent in the prescription diet drug Meridia which has an influence on the chemical signals in the brain and to be consumed only after seeking medical advice. It is not recommended for intake in certain individuals. Furthermore, Alli is to be consumed thrice a day whereas Meridia is to be consumed solely one tablet per day.

GSK additionally pointed out that nearly all fake copies of Alli have been identified at online auctioning sites such as eBay. However, GSK maintains that it has not yet obtained any information about the sale of fake Alli in retail outlets or anywhere else except for the online sale.

GSK has provided information on ways to spot the counterfeit drug:

• There no information of the LOT code on the packet top.
• The date-of-expiry inclusive of month/day/year is present on the fake drug packet whereas only month/year is present on the real drug.
• A white inked-seal over the drug bottle reading ‘Sealed for your Protection’ is present on the real drug bottles where this is absent on the counterfeit drug bottles.
• The size of the capsules is somewhat bigger in the faked drug bottles as compared to the genuine drugs. Also, the constituent present in the fake drug has a powder-like consistency whereas the real product has a more pellet-like appearance.

Images of the genuine and counterfeit Alli are displayed on the GSK and FDA sites. All those doubtful of having bought a bogus Alli product should promptly inform FDA about it.