by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Feb 6, 2019 | Internet Censorship
According to a new study published by the American Enterprise Institute, the search engine Bing, which is owned by Microsoft, has added pop-up warnings to search results that increase the chances that web searchers will click to rogue online pharmacies. As the reports shows, Bing’s action appears to purposefully thwart safe personal importation of more affordable medicines. It is one of the clearest examples of censorship resulting from “voluntary agreements” among Internet companies, “encouraged” by regulators, that will threaten the health of patients buying medicine online under the guise of protecting them. Bing has placed warnings on its organic search results of Canadian-based and other international online pharmacies, yet the search engine fails to do so for many rogue websites, ones proven to sell counterfeit drugs. Here’s how that happened.
The problem is Bing’s use of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s (NABP) Not Recommended List (NRL). Many of the NABP’s programs involving online sales of medicines and educating the public about online pharmacies are funded by drug companies, and therefore supportive of the industry’s profit-protecting goals against importation.
Bing’s Backwards Partnership with the NABP
(more…)Tagged with: AEI, Bing, Carmen Catizone, Google, NABP
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Nov 7, 2018 | FDA enforcement
The FDA’s recent press release announcing its activities in Operation Pangea XI, an enforcement operation to “crack down on websites selling illegal, potentially dangerous drugs; including opioids,” is conspicuously inaccurate about CanadaDrugs.com, which was forced to close its operations back in July. For a more general analysis of Operation Pangea XI, see my post from last week.
CanadaDrugs.com vs. CanadaDrugs
CanadaDrugs.com was the biggest Canadian online pharmacy for well over a decade. During its 17 years in business, it estimated that people ordered one billion dollars in medicines. During that time, not a single adverse reaction was ever reported by the FDA or any health agency. Their business relied on the fact that Americans are never prosecuted for personal drug importation. The law permits, and Congress has recognized the importance of, the FDA using enforcement discretion to allow personal drug imports so people can afford medicine.
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Tagged with: canadadrugs, Enforcement, Operation Pangea
by Lucia Mueller, President, PharmacyChecker.com | Dec 8, 2017 | Drug Prices
AARP just released its Rx Price Watch Report and the data doesn’t do your wallet any favors. Thankfully, verified international online pharmacies offer the price relief consumers need but can’t find locally. AARP has recommended that consumers consult PharmacyChecker.com to avoid rogue online pharmacy scams.
The AARP report painted quite a grim picture concerning the lack of drug price relief in the U.S.:
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Tagged with: AARP, huff post, Leigh purvis, Novolog, older americans, Rx Price Watch Report, Tod Cooperman, Viagra, Xarelto
