Prescription skin care distributor under investigation

Undercover law enforcement officers said that on several occasions since March they purchased prescription skin care medications online from a distributor in Thonotosassa.

The distributor mailed the skin creams without the prescription and is under investigation, although no arrests have been made.

A complaint was filed this year with the Florida Department of Health that said such prescription products were available online without a doctor's authorization.

In March, department investigators ordered from DermDrSite a 2-fluid-ounce bottle of Obagi Nu-Derm Blender, which contains hydroquinone, a substance that requires a prescription to buy. An agent used an undercover credit card, paying $75.40 for the bottle, according to investigative documents.

The bottle arrived and was placed in evidence. In April, an order was made for a 40-gram tube of Refissa Tretinoin cream, also available only through prescription. The cost was $94.16. A return address was a post office box in Thonotosassa used by Complete Skin Care, a distributor run from a Thonotosassa home, investigators said.

"The investigators were not asked any medical history questions, nor were they required to supply a prescription from a licensed physician," said the affidavit for search warrant, filed in the Hillsborough County courthouse.

In June, an investigator on three occasions ordered and received Obagi Nu-Derm Blender, the affidavit said.

On June 18, an undercover deputy posing as a postal worker went to the Thonotosassa address, a $1.36 million mansion on the east side of Lake Thonotosassa, the affidavit said. At the door, two unidentified women handed the deputy several postal sacks containing numerous packages to be shipped.

The undercover deputy asked what was in the packages and was told the packages were skin care products, the affidavit said.

The same ruse was conducted the following day, the affidavit said. This time, according to the affidavit, homeowner Robin Milata was outside and helped the deputy load packages into a mail truck. Among the packages was an Obagi order sent to the health department investigators, the affidavit said.

A search warrant was served at the home July 21 and deputies seized computers, software and hundreds of cases of skin care products, the affidavit said.

Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said the case was under investigation but little more.

"Multiple agencies are looking at individuals who were utilizing the Internet for illegal sale of prescriptions," he said.

The Thonotosassa address, listed under the name The Derm Center on the Obagi website, is a distributor of its products. The website says Obagi medical skin care products "are prescription strength and are only available through a physician's office or an appointed distributor."

"Obagi Medical does not endorse purchasing products from the Internet without a physician prescription and guidance," the website said.

Telephone and e-mail messages left for Milata this morning were not immediately returned.