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with Michael Breus, PhD, ABSM

Sleep disorders include a range of problems -- from insomnia to narcolepsy -- and affect millions of Americans. Dr. Michael Breus shares information and advice on sleep disorder and insomnia treatments and causes.

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Monday, March 12, 2007

Buying Prescription Medication on the Internet

In my most recent issue of the Sleep Review Newsletter I learned that what I had suspected could happen, has indeed occurred:

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has become aware that a number of Americans who placed orders for specific drug products over the Internet, including Ambien, Xanax, Lexapro, and Ativan, instead received a product that, according to preliminary analysis, contains haloperidol, a powerful anti-psychotic drug.

Several people ended up in the ER with several problems including:

  • difficulty in breathing

  • muscle spasms

  • muscle stiffness

Obviously this is a tremendous problem. The packages were postmarked in Greece and the FDA has posted photographs of the tablets and shipping packages in question.

This is not to say that errors like this occur in all instances. But when buying prescription medications over the internet, it is best to know what they look like, if possible, and to buy them through a site that your health insurance carrier recommends.

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Posted by: Michael Breus, PhD, ABSM at 11:45 am

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Expert Michael Breus, PhD, ABSM

Expert Michael Breus, PhD, ABSM Expert

Michael J. Breus, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and both a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He was one of the youngest people to have passed the Board at age 31 and, with a specialty in Sleep Disorders, is one of only 163 psychologists in the world with his credentials and distinction. Dr. Breus is dedicated to informing the public and health care communities about disordered sleep in a sleep-deprived society.

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