by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Jul 28, 2011 | Online Pharmacies
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is calling for a crackdown on rogue online pharmacies to curtail prescription drug abuse. Senator Schumer’s emphasis is on stopping online pharmacies that sell drugs without a prescription, particularly addictive drugs, such as Adderall and Xanax, which are controlled substances. We commend Senator Schumer on his actions. Since we first began our own work in 2002, a key requirement for an online pharmacy to be approved in the PharmacyChecker.com Verification Program has been that it require a valid U.S. prescription before dispensing any drug to an American. We also require that any pharmacy selling controlled substances to Americans be based in the U.S. and comply with the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 – legislation intended to curb drug abuse.
This is not Senator Schumer’s first call to arms regarding online pharmacies. In 2006, he co-sponsored the Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act (S. 399), a bill to curb the sale of prescription drugs over the Internet without a valid prescription. A press release from Schumer’s office noted, “the bill is geared to domestic Internet pharmacies that sell drugs without a valid prescription, not international pharmacies that sell drugs at a low cost to individuals who have a valid prescription from their U.S. doctors.” Unfortunately, S. 399 never became law. (more…)
Tagged with: Adderall, controlled substances, doctor training, drug abuse, Drug Enforcement Agency, illegal online pharmacies, Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, New York, Online Pharmacies, prescription, rogue online pharmacies, Ryan Haight Act, Schedule I, Schedule II, Senator Charles Schumer, United States, United States Department of Justice, Verification Program, Xanax
by PharmacyChecker.com | Feb 2, 2011 | Drug Importation
A new SmartMoney.com article entitled Ten Things the FDA Won’t Tell You reaffirms what we’ve reported in the past – when it comes to drug importation for personal use, the FDA generally does not intervene. “Feel free to buy drugs across the border,” the article’s subhead reads. And the FDA confirms, “The agency focuses enforcement only on imports that are intended for resale.”
However, purchasing imported or domestically sold drugs through online pharmacies requires consumer caution, as fraudulent rogue online pharmacies abound. Importantly, the SmartMoney article also references a study conducted by Roger Bate of the American Enterprise Institute and published in the Public Library of Science, which confirmed that drugs sold on the internet that had been properly verified by either the PharmacyChecker.com Verification Program or the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s VIPPS Program sell genuine medication and require a prescription. (more…)
Tagged with: Congressman Ron Paul, FDA, NABP, Online Pharmacy Verification Services, personal drug importation, Public Library of Science One, Senator Chuck Grassley, SmartMoney, Verification Program, VIPPS
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
