All HIV medicines on these platforms should be considered suspect products
WASHINGTON, DC, June 30, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- ADAP Advocacy and the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) issued the following joint statement as a warning to pharmacists that all discounted HIV products bought from online, pharmacy-to-pharmacy (P2P) marketplaces fit the definition of suspect product under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines and the Drug Supply Chain Security Act. Pharmacies should not buy from these platforms. Any HIV medicines purchased from these platforms should be considered a suspect product, requiring quarantine and verification before dispensing. Patients living with HIV/AIDS are potentially being put at risk.
PSM's Executive Director, Shabbir Imber Safdar, warned: "A deeply discounted HIV product bought off the internet from an unknown seller who won't provide a pedigree qualifies as suspect even before the purchasing pharmacy receives it because the listing alone meets many of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's risk criteria for illegitimacy: deep discounts, an established pattern of fraud in the HIV drug supply chain over the last six years, unknown sellers, and incomplete transaction histories. Once received, the often-observed damage to the packaging confirms that this product will need to be quarantined and investigated."
Online P2P marketplaces help pharmacies manage inventory but pose risks of suspicious sales. Dispensers must quarantine and investigate suspect products and report illegitimate products to the FDA and partners within 24 hours.
Brandon M. Macsata, CEO of ADAP Advocacy, added: "Independent pharmacies have also been known to trade stock in less formal settings such as WhatsApp or Telegram. Those transactions are, if anything, more vulnerable and never advisable. We're strongly urging pharmacists to heed our warning and avoid exposing patients to unnecessary risks."
The warning issued to pharmacists by ADAP Advocacy and PSM is available online at https://www.safemedicines.org/diverted-hiv-meds-on-p2p-platforms.
To learn more about this issue, please email info@adapadvocacy.org or info@safemedicines.org.
The ADAP Advocacy mission is to promote and enhance the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) and improve access to care for persons living with HIV/AIDS. ADAP Advocacy works with advocates, community, health care, government, patients, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders to raise awareness, offer patient educational programs, and foster greater community collaboration.
The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) is a public health group comprised of non-profit organizations that handle medicine from the factory floor to the patient and are committed to the safety of prescription drugs.
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