China's drug safety watchdog on Wednesday blacklisted 25 websites for selling fake medicines.

Consumers were warned against buying drugs from organizations including the International Cardiovascular Disease Research Academy (www.bayer120.com.cn) and the Diabetes Center of the China International Biological Medicine Institute (www.ydjht.com).

Drugs sold on those sites claimed to be able to cure high blood pressure, skin diseases, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

SFDA spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said the counterfeit drugs jeopardized public safety, and vowed to continue the crackdown after the Wednesday announcement, which was this year's first warning.

Yan said the sites had been reported to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which said it was investigating. They could be shut down.

Yan said fake drug websites were rampant, and urged consumers to buy drugs only from websites licensed by the administration for online pharmaceutical business.

The sites were still accessible on Wednesday morning.

A man who identified himself by the surname Yang, and who claimed to be a doctor, answered a call on the telephone number stated on www.bayer120.com.cn, and said he had received no notice of the website's closure.

A full list of the 25 blacklisted websites is available on the administration's website (www.sfda.gov.cn), which also has a list of the 11 websites in China licensed to sell over-the-counter (OTC) drugs online.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2009)