The agency reminds patients who are allergic to or may have experienced adverse reactions from penicillin products that they are at risk of experiencing similar reactions from cloxacillin. This includes a sudden, potentially life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis, with symptoms that include difficulty breathing, chest tightness, swelling of the throat or tongue, hives, dizziness, loss of consciousness, or a rapid or weak pulse. There is no FDA-approved generic drug for the prescription product Tamiflu.
The FDA bought the fraudulent "Generic Tamiflu" without a prescription from a website claiming to be an online drugstore that is no longer operational. The fraudulent version is likely to be found for sale on other websites, however.
"A rogue Internet website marketing drug products may look like a professional and legitimate website, but may actually be an illegal operation," said Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. "Medicines purchased from websites operating outside the law put consumers at increased risk due to a higher potential that the products will be counterfeit, impure, contaminated, or have too little or too much of the active ingredient."
The FDA-purchased product arrived in an envelope postmarked from India, containing two foil-backed blister packages each with 15 yellow and tan capsules containing white powder (see photos below). The foil backing is printed, and labeled in part, "Oseltamivir Phosphate 75mg. Capsules TM-FLU Capsules" and "Manufactured by: TRYDRUGS Pharmaceuticals PVT. LTD."