Seventy-five percent of drugs from overseas sources, which are available online, are fake, warned the China Food and Drug Administration.

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This is not the first time that the drug and food agency made this warning.

The new warning was contained in a statement that the food and drug authority issued online on Wednesday.

According to food and drug regulating authority there is no guarantee to the authenticity of generic anti-cancer drugs that are sold online.

The statement specifically mentioned the results of an investigation done by the drug administration of Shenzhen that showed that 75 percent of generic anti-cancer drugs from foreign sources that could be bought online are fake and do not deliver the desired results.

According to Zhi Xiuyi, head of the Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Center of the Capital Medical University in Beijing, it is the low price of the foreign generic drugs that make Chinese cancer patients order them online even if the drugs have not been given the approval of the food and drug administration.

Gleevac, a cancer treatment drug that is not included in the medical system benefits, for example, would cost over 10,000 Yuan ($1,600 USD) per month, while its generic counterpart, which is readily available online, would only cost a cancer patient 1,000 Yuan per month.

Patients ordering drugs sold online are taking a big risk, according to Li since these drugs have not been tested and approved by drug authorities.

"Patients can't tell the difference between genuine drugs and fake drugs as it requires technical expertise and equipment", Li added.

To avoid the situation of patients ordering unregulated drugs online Zhi said the food and drug authorities should hasten their approval process of foreign drugs so that they would be legally available in the local market, and to consider including more anti-cancer drugs in the country's health care system.