Susan Cody - On-line Pharmacy Investigation : Any Drug you want with the Click of a Mouse (and a Credit Card)
I was reading a story recently about a woman whose husband died from over-dosing on medications he had purchased (somewhat surreptitiously) from an on-line pharmacy.
I think we all suffer through the plague of mass emails for everything from pills to cure erectile dysfunction to pills that take away your pain. I get so many E.D. emails that I almost felt like checking my parts to make sure I am actually female...do these companies know something about me I don't?
No, all they care about is an email address and the easy lure of money.
I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of us know that these pharmacies are either scams selling nothing more than sugar pills or worse - they are sending out the real thing, with no idea who they are sending it to and what their medical history is.
For the purpose of writing this piece, I did my own investigation (similar to the CNN's research in the link below) and not only did I immediately find a plethora of 'pharmacies', I simply clicked on whatever area I was interested in (I chose Anti Depressants) and I chose 100 Valium tablets at 10 mg each for a total of $199.00. Then I was given a complimentary discount coupon of $11.40. A $25 shipping charge was added and I was off and running.
They told me one of their doctors will review my 'information' and my medications would be sent out in the mail. I could have picked anything I wanted from their "Catalog". Pain medications, Prozac...it was one big on-line candy store. If I had the money, they had the pill.
Part of me is stunned, part of me is not.
These companies have no idea what medications I may be on already (the form did not ask me) and since drug interaction information is vital, it's no wonder some of the buyers of these medications are dead soon after they arrive in a brown paper box. These pills could be contaminated or cause a severe reaction. And that being the case, to whom would my family call upon my hospitalization?
Buying medications on line is frighteningly easy.
While it is terrible that so many get hurt by using these pharmacies, I also find myself critical of us - the buyer. Companies like this can only sell to people prepared to fork out the cash. This is drug pushing and buying this makes a person a drug user. It's a risky business. We cannot be surprised when someone dies or becomes seriously ill from a bad interaction.
And one more thing - my online pharmacy of choice is also offering me the opportunity of becoming an online pharmacy myself. An affiliate, no less, even offering professional looking website templates of my choosing and showing me the commissions I can make.
This investigation was one big wake up call on an otherwise ordinary Friday afternoon...
For more on the CNN report, click here http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/05/21/online.drugs/index.html
'Buyer beware' has never rung so true.
Comments
Very frightening. In addition to doling out inappropriate amounts of drugs to self-medicating adults, I have to wonder how many teens have obtained drugs this way. Does the issue of age come up on the forms at all? (And it's not like it could be enforced, but this drives home the point.)
The validity of online pharmacies has become such an issue that the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy jumped into the fray by establishing standards for sale and distribution along with a list of recommended online drug sites (think walgreens.com) while compiling a list of sites they do not recommend.
According to its Web site, the NABP has verified that the pharmacies on the 'recommended' list are appropriately licensed and have successfully completed the well-recognized and rigorous VIPPS criteria evaluation and on-site inspection. You can check out that list here ...
http://www.nabp.net/index.html?target=/vipps/intro.asp&
Then, there are the other sites. According to the NABP, these outlets appear to be out of compliance with state and federal laws or NABP patient safety and pharmacy practice standards.
http://www.nabp.net/index.html?target=/vipps/intro.asp&
And as Susan pointed out in her Share, there are some things that will pop up during the course of your online interaction that scream red flag. According to the NAPB, here are some tip offs that you're not dealing with a legitimate pharmacy.
# No prescription required;
# Prescription based solely on questionnaire;
# No phone number or address;
# No pharmacist consultation;
# Waivers;
# Limited medicine;
# International Web sites;
# Spam solicitations
To support a suspicious site, fill out this form.
And if you think you've stumbled upon a bad dealer selling counterfeit pills ...Here's what you can do ...
* Contact NABP at custserv@nabp.net
* Contact your local state board of pharmacy and the state board of pharmacy where the Internet drug outlet is located.
* Contact the Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088
* Contact the pharmaceutical manufacturer
* Contact the pharmacist who sold you the drug
It's unfortunate that humans are the only animals who go out of their way to prey on their own kind.
Personally, I do a lot of shopping online. There are so many advantages: convenience; immediately knowing whether or not the item is available; someone else does the driving; nearly instant comparison shopping and reviews; whatever. But, drug dealing online - but, of course it was bound to happen, with as much other questionable activity that there is online. We need to be smart consumers!
Tim Berners-Lee (the real inventor of the Internet) wanted the world to have immediate access to information mining. I wonder if he could foresee the level of scamming (is that a word?) that would be unleashed, once the Web was made available to the public.
This is such a frightening story. Susan, what a brave consumer investigator you are!
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