Despite regulatory scrutiny of the online advertisement and sale of opioids without a prescription, such ads continue to proliferate on social media and search websites, Food and Drug Administration Scott Gottlieb said on Wednesday. Those websites include Twitter TWTR, +1.96% Facebook FB, -1.35% and Instagram, privately-held Reddit, Google GOOGL, -0.25% Altaba's Yahoo AABA, -2.21% and Microsoft's Bing MSFT, +1.89% he said. "The easy availability and online purchase of these products from illegal drug peddlers is rampant and fuels the opioid crisis," Gottlieb said, according to a transcript of prepared remarks. "Internet firms simply aren't taking practical steps to find and remove these illegal opioid listings." The FDA wants to work with these companies, he said, and plans to meet with their management, academics and advocacy groups to address potential solutions, which could include changes to search algorithms to promote treatment programs and inform about risks. Buying illegal opioid products online "was as easy as buying any other product online," Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chair Sen. Rob Portman said in a January hearing.