The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has warned against purchasing medicines and health or herbal preparations through the Internet. The SFDA has called on the public not to be lured by misleading advertisements on some websites, which sell health and herbal preparations of an unknown source and have not been registered at the SFDA. These medicines and preparations could be very harmful to people's health, as their pharmaceutical ingredients are unknown. Also, a large percentage of such preparations are adulterated with other substances or are devoid of any useful ingredients. Therefore, their use might lead to an aggravation of the person's health and in extreme cases could possibly lead to death. The SFDA said that through its inspectors, it monitors websites that promote unidentified and unregistered preparations and monitors those who market them in the Kingdom. It warned that people who promote medicines in the Kingdom through the Internet or via mobile telephones will be answerable to the law. The SFDA stressed that consignments containing medicines or health or herbal preparations which arrive in the Kingdom through freight or courier companies will not be cleared unless they are in compliance with the conditions and requirements for the import and clearing of medicines or preparations published on the SFDA website. __
