FDA Warns Most Online Pharmacies Fake

To contact us Click HERE

Two topics have come to the fore in thelast month. The first is online pharmacies and the NationalAssociation of Boards of Pharmacy and the Food and DrugAdministration are both warning consumers about the dangers. Thesecond and equally serious problem is the Compounding Pharmacies thatare at present unregulated. This will be my topic for the next blogand I am focusing on online pharmacies in this blog.
“Of the10,065 online pharmacies in the NABP study, 9,734 -- 97% -- violatedstate or federal laws and/or NABP safety and practice standards.” This means that 331 onlinepharmacies may be legitimate or only 3 percent may be trustworthy. The FDA is right in issuing warnings that online pharmacies are anemerging health threat. Personally, I will never use an onlinepharmacy just because of the above. In addition, the many spammersemployed by these people continue to fill my one email inbox andattempt to get their garbage through comment moderation on this blog. Thank goodness for the delete or spam key that is easy to use.
What is not surprising is that whenthey are found out, they just shut down the site and open anotheroften before the other is shut down. They never miss an opportunityto pedal their snake oil. Many of these fake pharmacies are so goodat what they do that it takes experts to discern the fake from thereal drugs. The patients often do find out when they take the fakedrugs and their medical condition worsens, or when they have to go tothe emergency department for unknown causes. Unfortunately, somenever make it to the emergency department, but to the morgue.
“A group ofinterested companies has formed the Center for Safe InternetPharmacies. The founding members of the CSIP include AmericanExpress, Discover, eNom, Go Daddy, Google, MasterCard, Microsoft,Neustar, PayPal, Visa, and Yahoo. CSIP has an online pharmacychecker at safemedsonline.org, where consumers can check out andreport rogue pharmacy web sites.”
The company in the list above I reallymust wonder about is Yahoo. It seems like Yahoo sells their emaillists to these fake pharmacies as these make up the bulk of my spamemails along with another group of sites. This is unproven, but maybe what happens.
Fake online pharmacy warning signsinclude many of the following - The FDA warns consumers to bewareonline pharmacies that:1. Online pharmacies may offer low, low prices. 2. Allow you to buy drugs without a prescription from your doctor. 3. Offer deep discounts or cheap prices that seem too good to betrue. 4. Send spam or unsolicited email offering cheap drugs. 5. Are located outside of the United States. 6. Are not licensed in the United States.
The following list may indicate a safeonline pharmacy:1. Always requires a doctor's prescription for prescription drugs. 2. Provides a physical address and telephone number in the U.S. 3. Has a pharmacist available to answer your questions. 4. Is licensed with your state's board of pharmacy.