Online Pharmacies
Consumers are more and more replacing a trip
to the corner drugstore with a click onto the Internet where
there are lots of web sites promotion prescription drugs.
Many of these are legitimate enterprises that offer convenience,
privacy, and the safeguards of traditional measures for prescribing
drugs. And while some online pharmacies are the well-known
large drugstore chains, most of them are smaller local businesses
enhancing their customer service with electronic access.
But be wary of others who are using the Internet as an outlet
for products or practices that are already illegal in the
offline world. These sites either sell unapproved products,
or if they deal in approved ones, they often sidestep established
procedures meant to protect consumers.
For example, some sites need customers only to fill out a
questionnaire prior to ordering prescription drugs, bypassing
any face-to-face communication with a health professional.
This sets the stage for harmful problems like drug interactions,
and uses of contaminated, outdated, or counterfeit drugs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have made Internet
examination an enforcement priority, targeting unlicensed
new drugs, health fraud, and prescription drugs sold with
no a valid prescription. Consumers looking for health products
online can find many sites that FDA officials say are officially
questionable. Some concentrate in particular drugs like the
baldness therapy Propecia (finasteride) , Viagra, or the weight-loss
treatment Xenical (orlistat). Others, based in foreign countries,
promise to distribute prescription drugs at a much cheaper
price than their domestic cost, but the drugs may be dissimilar
from those approved in the United States or may be past their
expiration dates.
New rule has been planned to regulate online pharmacies. But
in the meantime, the oversight of online pharmacies cuts across
the jurisdictions of a number of Federal and state agencies.
State medical boards control medical practice, while state
pharmacy boards supervise pharmacy practice. The FDA and Federal
Trade Commission take care that drug sellers make legal claims
about their products. The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S.
Customs Service put into effect laws about the shipment of
drug products. The FDA regulates the safety, effectiveness
and manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs, in addition to
a part of the prescribing process.
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