COVID-19 Treatments Sold Online Without Prescription Requirements in the United States: Cross-sectional Study Evaluating Availability, Safety and Marketing of Medications

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased online purchases and heightened interest in existing treatments. Dexamethasone, hydroxychloroquine, and lopinavir-ritonavir have been touted as potential COVID-19 treatments. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the availability of 3 potential COVID-19 treatments online and evaluated the safety and marketing characteristics of websites selling these products during the pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the months of June 2020 to August 2020, by searching the first 100 results on Google, Bing, and Yahoo! mimicking a US consumer. Unique websites were included if they sold targeted medicines, were in English, offered US shipping, and were free to access. Identified online pharmacies were categorized as rogue, unclassified, or legitimate based on LegitScript classifications. Patient safety characteristics, marketing techniques, price, legitimacy, IP addresses, and COVID-19 mentions were recorded. RESULTS: We found 117 websites: 30 selling dexamethasone (19/30, 63% rogue), 39 selling hydroxychloroquine (22/39, 56% rogue), and 48 selling lopinavir-ritonavir (33/48, 69% rogue). This included 89 unique online pharmacies: 70% were rogue (n=62), 22% were unapproved (n=20), and 8% were considered legitimate (n=7). Prescriptions were not required among 100% (19/19), 61% (20/33), and 50% (11/22) of rogue websites selling dexamethasone, lopinavir-ritonavir, and hydroxychloroquine, respectively. Overall, only 32% (24/74) of rogue websites required prescriptions to buy these medications compared with 94% (31/33) of unapproved and 100% (10/10) of legitimate websites (P<.001). Rogue sites rarely offered pharmacist counseling (1/33, 3% for lopinavir-ritonavir to 2/22, 9% for hydroxychloroquine). Drug warnings were unavailable in 86% (6/7) of unapproved dexamethasone sites. It was difficult to distinguish between rogue, unapproved, and legitimate online pharmacies solely based on website marketing characteristics. Illegitimate pharmacies were more likely to offer bulk discounts and claim price discounts, yet dexamethasone and hydroxychloroquine were more expensive online. An inexpensive generic version of lopinavir-ritonavir that is not authorized for use in the United States was available online offering US shipping. Some websites claimed hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir-ritonavir were effective COVID-19 treatments despite lack of scientific evidence. In comparing IP addresses to locations claimed on the websites, only 8.5% (7/82) matched their claimed locations. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of safety measures by illegitimate online pharmacies endanger patients, facilitating access to medications without appropriate oversight by health care providers to monitor clinical response, drug interactions, and adverse effects. We demonstrated how easy it is to go online to buy medications that are touted to treat COVID-19 even when current clinical evidence does not support their use for self-treatment. We documented that illegitimate online pharmacies sidestep prescription requirements, skirt pharmacist counseling, and make false claims regarding efficacy for COVID-19 treatment. Health care professionals must urgently educate the public of the dangers of purchasing drugs from illegitimate websites and highlight the importance of seeking treatment through authentic avenues of care.