With unfortunate regularity, I get emails from people who have purchased hepatitis C medication online from unreliable suppliers and discovered that they have been scammed.

People with hepatitis C are often desperate and often short of money so they are easy prey for unscrupulous scammers.

The hep C medication scam may take many forms.

Of course there are the obvious scammers… the ones selling herbal cures that cure everything thing from hep C to HIV and herpes.

Then there are the more subtle scammers offering what appears to be genuine hepatitis C medication but it is not. It may be that after it is paid for the hep C medication simply never arrives. It may be that the hep C meds ordered are a cheap, unlicensed version with unknown quality and sub-standard ingredients.

For example, cheap, unlicensed versions of Harvoni, Epclusa, and Sovaldi are made in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. These generic hepatitis C medications are made without any regulation or oversights.

However, the most common hep C scam is to send genuine licensed hepatitis C medication that has passed its Use By date.

How this scam works is that manufacturers of hepatitis C medicines in India will sell hepatitis C medication that is close to the expiry date for a very, very cheap price.

Usually, these medicines are sold, or given, to charities who then supply the hep C medication for free to needy people with hepatitis C.

I have certainly done exactly this to help people who could not even afford my cost price for hep C medication.

However, people with connections with the manufacturers buy these hep C medicines for almost nothing and then scratch off or obscure the expiry date and sell them online for lower than normal prices without telling customers that the medication has reached its use by date.

Whilst hep C medications (and most medicines) will still be effective for many months after their expiry date when the expiry date is removed it is impossible to tell if the medication has been out of date by a few months or a few years.

Today I received the email below from someone who has just gone through this problem and I thought to share it with you.

Dear Greg,

I recently was shipped a generic Harvoni from India. The manufactured dates and expiry dare were removed from the label.

They said it was because the dates had to have a 2-year shelf life if shipped by DHL. The first shipment has not arrived after more than 3 weeks by EMS India. The company shipped me another shipment by DHL…

Now, I am worried that they sent me expired medications. I am willing to pay as long as I get the proper product.

What is the shelf life of Resof L? What is the danger of taking this med if past the expiry date?

By the way, I live in the UAE and the meds were shipped here. I have a prescription from my doctor but my insurance would not cover this.

thanks

To read the rest of this entry, click here. Greg’s blog is reprinted with permission, and the views are entirely his.