Consumers were alerted this week that a small quantity of fake weight loss product, falsely packaged and labeled as the weight-loss drug Alli, has been sold on online auction websites, such as eBay.

According to the FDA, “there is no evidence at this time that counterfeit Alli products has been sold through other channels, such as retail stores.”

The falsely packaged and labeled products are the 60mg, 120ct refill packs only. The products are sold on online auction sites directly to consumers and are falsely represented as the genuine Alli product.

Preliminary testing confirms that the counterfeit products do not contain the active ingredient orlistat, which is found in the authentic product. The prescription drug sibutramine has been detected in the fake product.

While many of these counterfeit products may look similar to genuine products, they are illegal and have no connection with GSK (maker of Alli) or the FDA.

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Published: January 22, 2010 - Volume 8 - Issue 40