by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jul 8, 2015 | Controlled Drugs, FDA
This diazepam – generic Valium – is really haloperidol.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning last week that a drug product sold in Central Africa, mislabeled as diazepam, which was actually the drug haloperidol (for schizophrenia), had caused 700 adverse reactions, such as acute contractions of the muscles in the face and neck. While there are no reports that the product entered the U.S., FDA cautioned Americans who take diazepam that it could, potentially, be sold over the Internet and to be on the lookout for the pills you see in the image to your left. Sound advice!
For the backstory checkout the World Health Organization’s Medical Product Alert.
Diazepam is the generic name for the anti-anxiety medication commonly known as Valium. It is a controlled prescription drug, meaning one associated with abuse use and addiction.
We recommend to U.S. and all consumers that you not buy controlled medication internationally from an online pharmacy. Online pharmacies that sell Valium, and all controlled drugs, internationally are not eligible for the PharmacyChecker.com Verification Program. (more…)
Tagged with: diazepam, FDA warning
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jul 4, 2015 | Advocacy, Government, Internet Censorship
Back in 1776, America’s Founding Fathers agreed that a government should not deprive its people of their natural freedoms. So when I think about the tyranny of high drug prices in America this July 4th – which causes millions of Americans to go without needed medication and face financial hardship – I’m also thinking about the Declaration of Independence and the freedoms it promises. And I write with humility that safe online pharmacies offering lower drug prices from other countries have a lot to do with helping Americans achieve “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Life: There are people living in the United States who, according to their testimonials, would lose their lives if not for safe international online pharmacies.
Liberty: The Internet is a tool of freedom for millions when it comes to access to affordable medication. The Internet helps educate people that medication prices are much lower in other countries and provides access to legally operating and safe pharmacies from which they can obtain affordable medication.
Pursuit of Happiness: In this case I am thinking about the happiness of saving money and the fact that Thomas Jefferson was talking, at least in part, about financial health and security when he penned this phrase. But saving money is not just about getting a “better deal” although there is nothing wrong with that. It’s about the grandparent who pursues happiness by saving a $1000 a year buying medication from a foreign pharmacy so that he or she can visit their grandchildren this July 4th.
For these reasons, at PharmacyChecker.com, we believe it is an honor to help Americans who are going online for lower cost medication by identifying the safest online pharmacy options at which people can buy medication they can afford. By doing so, we empower them to both protect themselves from rogue online pharmacies and their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Happy 4th of July!
Tagged with: fourth of july, liberty, life, pursuit of happiness
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jul 1, 2015 | Advocacy, Online Pharmacies, Online Pharmacy Verification Services, Skipping medications
Today, online pharmacies that are based and selling medication internationally within the European Union (EU) are required to publish a new EU online pharmacy logo, as shown in the image to your left. We have updated our Verification Program requirements to reflect the EU’s new rules. The practice of international pharmacy is expressly legal within the EU, unlike between, say, the U.S. and Canada, although some EU member countries place national restrictions limiting the scope of cross-border sales. Only online pharmacies based in the member states of the EU are eligible for the new seal. Each seal will contain a special link that consumers can click to verify the seal’s authenticity.
Like the PharmacyChecker seal (right), the purpose of the EU logo is to help consumers shop safely for prescription drugs over the Internet and avoid dangerous pharmacy sites. To obtain a PharmacyChecker seal, an online pharmacy must meet many safety requirements, but its program seeks to maximize global access to safe and affordable medication to protect public health. The PharmacyChecker seal can also be authenticated by clicking it. If the seal profile is not hosted on www.pharmacychecker.com, then it’s a fake seal!
It’s very important to understand that regulating online pharmacies in the EU is very different from U.S. regulations that can prevent Americans from obtaining safe, affordable prescribed medication. Unlike tens of millions in America, citizens of the EU are generally not faced with having to choose between food and medicine due to the high cost of prescription drugs. Why? The costs for prescription drugs are much lower in the EU than in the U.S., and their healthcare systems better ensure that everyone has access to affordable medication. Therefore, unlike Americans, EU citizens are not usually looking online for medications to treat asthma, depression, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and stroke because they can afford them at local pharmacies. They are much more likely to be bargain hunting for less essential medications, such as those that treat erectile dysfunction and hair loss, because those medications are often not covered by health insurance policies in the EU – similar in that respect to health coverage in the U.S.
Identifying online pharmacies that sell safe and effective medications and meet critical safety criteria protects consumers, and so does helping them find the lowest drug prices. That’s why we launched PharmacyChecker.com in 2003. However, I have a mixed mindset about the new EU online pharmacy logo. I believe that people in the EU, like those in America or anywhere, should be able to access safe and affordable medication globally if they can’t obtain it locally. It’s difficult to tell if the EU’s new logo and rules will impede access to medicines; although, as discussed, drug affordability is a much, much smaller problem in the EU than in the U.S. We’ll be closely following how the new regulations are working and what impact they have on consumers and their online access to safe and affordable medicine.
Tagged with: European Union, logo, PharmacyChecker Verification Program, PharmacyChecker.com Verification Seal, seal
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jun 24, 2015 | Cancer Drugs
This blog post concerns real people who are desperate, angry, and facing terminal illness because of the cost of a cancer medication. A woman named Lisa recently placed a comment on a blog post we wrote back in March 2013 called “The Price of Gleevec: A Tale of Two Supreme Courts.” We noted at the time that the Indian Supreme Court told drug company Novartis to go fly a kite in its effort to stop lower cost generic versions of Gleevec, a cancer medication, from being sold in India, and that the U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments against a practice known as Pay-to-Delay involving a different medication.
But this post is not about policies and intellectual property or patent rights, the rightness or wrongness of India’s looser patent laws, pay-to-delay, personal drug importation or online pharmacies. It’s just about a woman’s husband and others who have cancer and can’t afford the medicine they need to get better or live.
Lisa gave me permission to re-publish her comment as a blog post here. I have made very, very slight edits, as you can see if you look at the original comment.
Lisa wrote:
This is very interesting news and gives us a little hope. My husband has Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). He has been on Gleevec (here in So. California for the past 12 years. I thought I should mention Gleevec here in the U.S. is $10,600.00 a month for 400mg (30 pills). I thought should mention this because your prices listed here in the U.S. are inaccurate. That would bring the total cost to $126,000 a year.
We are going broke, will probably lose our home and my husband will probably never be able to retire (even though his body is breaking down from 40+ years of a very physical job as a pipe fitter. I (the wife), am permanently disabled. We will die homeless before this drug ever comes within an affordable price.
Many children and adults are cutting their pills in half, which defects the purpose. They too, will die before seeing Gleevec reach an affordable price here in the U.S.
All the countries you listed in the article, do NOT accept U.S. insurance companies and/or ObamaCare.
Why doesn’t anyone bring this to the press? Why does Congress and ObamaCare turn a blind eye? How many hundreds have to die before this drug and options are researched. I have written many letters to Norvartis, only to be ignored. I have written to Media Outlets only to be ignored. Now I am desperately asking for your help in bringing this to the media and anyone that will listen. We and many others are scared out of our minds. We are really loosing hope and it is tearing families apart. Some patients are becoming suicidal, because they don’t know how they are going to afford the next month supply of Gleevec. Novartis (GREEDARTIS) should be ashamed of themselves. You should research the substantial increases (quarterly), since the drug first went on the market. It will blow you mind! What if this was your child or loved one?
Tagged with: Gleevec, lisa, novartis
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jun 19, 2015 | Online Pharmacies, Saving Money on Prescription Drugs
Is Viagra really safe to buy online? The truth.
Viagra, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s name for a drug called sildenafil citrate, is the most sought after medication on the Internet. You can save a lot of money buying Viagra online, but you can also risk getting a fake or tainted product that endangers your health. Here’s how to stay safe and save money. (more…)
Tagged with: buying online, generic, Pfizer, sildenafil citrate, Viagra
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jun 12, 2015 | Drug Prices, Medication non-adherence, Saving Money on Prescription Drugs, Skipping medications
If not treated properly, the breathing condition known as asthma is deadly. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nine people die each day from asthma and in 2009 there were 3,388 deaths. Flovent is an inhaled corticosteroid that treats asthma. Flovent not only makes breathing easier for asthma sufferers, it helps prevent severe attacks that can cause hospitalization.
But Flovent can be prohibitively expensive, especially if you are uninsured or your health insurance will not cover this medication. Kids are often the victim of high asthma drug prices. A 3-month supply of Flovent Diskus (fluticasone propionate) 250 mcg inhalers costs around $778 at a local pharmacy. Based on a typical dosage, that works out to $3,112 per year. That’s a huge number considering the median family income in the U.S. is about $52,000 a year –and of course tens of millions of families make due with much, much less. According to one academic study, failure to take your asthma medication often leads to “decreased quality of life, lost productivity, increased health care utilization, and even the risk of death.”
Pharmacy discount cards can help the situation. With a discount card the price for a 3-month supply might drop down to $684 at a U.S. pharmacy for a 3-month supply, a savings of $131.
But the costs are far lower in other countries for the same medication. Instead of calling it Flovent Diskus, GlaxoSmithKline markets fluticasone propionate as Flixotide Discus, which is sold in licensed pharmacies throughout the world. The foreign version of Flovent Diskus 250 mcg inhaler can be purchased online for about $123 for a 3-month supply or $492 a year. That’s a potential discount of about 84% and a savings of $2619 per year off the price of Flovent Diskus sold in the U.S.!
According to the CDC, about one in 10 children have asthma. It’s a serious but treatable condition. There are effective medications like Flovent Diskus, which is approved for children as young as four years old. My son suffered from cold-induced asthma as a smaller child and it’s scary, and that’s why this particular condition makes me so mad. Parents often can’t afford asthma medications and sometimes must bring their kids to the hospital when their asthma flares up. I think that’s unforgivable and that no parent should have to watch their child suffer, and yet they do from the high cost of medications in the U.S.
Tagged with: 250mcg, asthma, diskus, flixotide discus, Flovent, GlaxoSmithKline
