by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Nov 24, 2010 | Online Pharmacy Verification Services
Click on the seal to test its validity and view the online pharmacy profile.
Just last week the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted for a bill – Combatting Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act – to crackdown on websites selling counterfeit products, which will include rogue online pharmacies. This could be a great thing for patient safety. However, critics argue that, if enacted, provisions in the bill will stifle free speech protected under the First Amendment, and may lead to overreaching government activities, including shutting down online pharmacies that are a safe lifeline of affordable prescription medication for American consumers. The bill raises an important topic for consumers: How do you find affordable medication online while staying away from dangerous counterfeit drugs?
Counterfeit drugs can hurt and kill those who take them. And, while the hard data is scant, experts agree that the Internet provides a channel for the sale of counterfeit drugs and some consumers fall victim to rogue online pharmacies that sell them. As AARP reports, due to the high prices of prescription drugs in the United States, millions of Americans go online to find affordable medication but in doing so put their health at risk. PharmacyChecker.com helps consumers identify websites that market and sell safe and effective drugs at an affordable price, and to avoid dangerous counterfeit drugs. Other verification services and trade associations also evaluate online pharmacies, but we believe our program is the most independent and useful for the American consumer. (more…)
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, Canada, Counterfeit Drugs, Dr. Ram Kamath, Drug Prices, European Union, international pharmacies, Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, Online Pharmacies, Online Pharmacy Verification Services, pharmacychecker.com, save money, Senate Judiciary Committee, seniors, United States, Verification Program, VIPPS, Wal-Mart
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Nov 23, 2010 | Medicare Drug Plans
Many Medicare enrollees shopping for drug plans this open enrollment season may be lured in by the offers with the lowest premiums, when in fact these plans can make for poor choices. What’s most important when choosing a Part D plan is that the drugs you need are covered; and if the plan doesn’t cover your meds, then plain and simple, it is not a good option for you. To find out which plans include the drugs you take, you can use the government’s website, found here: Medicare Plan Finder.
Blindly choosing the plan with the lowest monthly premium means you’re more likely to neglect researching drug coverage and other crucial factors about your Part D drug plan. For instance, if your plan is linked with a preferred drugstore, location could be a problem. This worry is highlighted in a recent AP article, as the Humana/Wal-Mart plan with the lowest premium on the whole Medicare list is causing trouble for some. While the competitive premium prices from Humana and other Part D providers are drawing attention as factors in picking a plan, accessibility, co-pays, deductible and coverage in the doughnut hole must be considered in addition to the most critical factor – the drugs covered on a plan’s formulary. (more…)
Tagged with: accessibility, affordable prescriptions, co-pays, deductible, doughnut hole, Drug Prices, Humana, Medicare, Medicare Drug Plans, medicare plan finder, medicaredrugplans.com, Part D, premiums, save money, seniors, United States, Wal-Mart
by PharmacyChecker.com | Oct 11, 2010 | Drug Prices, Healthcare Reform, Medicare Drug Plans
With open enrollment for Medicare Part D just around the corner, 50% discounts on brand name prescriptions while in the coverage gap seems to be a great new benefit this coming year… or is it? Some patient advocate groups, and we at PharmacyChecker.com, are asking, 50% off what price? Will PhRMA offer the discount on a higher-than-normal base price to cover their losses?
As the market, not the government, controls drug prices, it is a possibility that manufacturers will up the prices on drugs, especially specialty medications that lack brand-name alternative or generic competition, in order to make up for the lost profit. A brand name drug that costs $100 per month now – $50 in 2011 for Medicare Part D enrollees – may likely cost $120 next year – or $60 for Medicare enrollees – so that the manufacturers are able to spare revenue loss little by little. (more…)
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, Drug Prices, health, Healthcare Reform, Medicare, Medicare Drug Plans, Part D, phrma, save money, seniors, United States
