Pet meds still listed on Amazon despite fakes complaint

Three hydrocortisone-based pet medicines have been withdrawn from sale on Amazon after the manufacturer of the products confirmed they were counterfeit.

In a statement, Pet King Brands says it was notified that Amazon had sold consumers counterfeit Zymox products that “were not manufactured by Pet King Brands nor supplied directly to Amazon.”

The company says it is “working closely” with Amazon to understand how the online retail giant “could have made this error” – as it is not an authorised reseller of any Pet King Brand products.

It also says Amazon has taken down the fraudulent listings and issued refunds to customers who were sold the offending products, which were all ear solutions used to keep pet ears healthy and alleviate itching and other symptoms of inflammation.

At the time of writing, however, Amazon.com still had 34 listings for Zymox products online – at least when the site was accessed from the UK – from various sellers. One of the listings was also flagged as an Amazon best seller.

The three products identified as counterfeit by Pet King Brands so far are:

- ZYMOX Otic Ear Solution with 1% Hydrocortisone, 1.25 fl oz

- ZYMOX Otic Plus Ear Solution with 1% Hydrocortisone, 1.25 fl oz

- ZYMOX Enzymatic Ear Solution with 0.5% Hydrocortisone, 1.25 fl oz

“Pet King Brands was able to detect the counterfeit products through its quality and safety enforcement programme,” said the Westmont, Illinois-based company in a statement.

It is also testing some of the counterfeit products that have been identified to determine their contents so they can offer more information to those who may have bought and used the knock-off products.

At the same time, it notes there are “many other unauthorised online sources that offer no guarantee consumers are receiving the authentic, USA-made products.”