The Majority of Online Pharmacy Sites are Rogue, NABP Report Notes
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has issued a public health alert warning consumers (patients) about illegal online pharmacies that sell spurious and unapproved medications. An NABP report investigated 8,000 online pharmacy sites, and found that 96% of them violated US drug and pharmacy laws.
Most rogue online pharmacies operate outside the US and get their supplies from overseas sources, usually from unregulated drug factories in India and China where low-quality generic medications are manufactured.
Many blame fake Internet pharmacies for increased prescription and controlled drug abuse in the US, and there have been lots of calls to shut them down, but that’s much easier said than done.
Over the past few years, the FDA, FTC, and other non-governmental organizations have managed to close down thousands of illegal Internet pharmacies, but thousands of new ones keep popping up everyday, and the war continues…
So, how to tell if a pharmacy site is illegal?
Most shady online drugstores can be identified by just taking a close look at the different sections/pages of the site. The following are some common indications of an untrustworthy pharmacy site:
- Does not provide a physical address.
- Sells controlled drugs without requiring a valid prescription.
- Does not reveal the dispensing pharmacy name or address.
- Sells non-FDA-approved medications, like generic Viagra, generic Cialis, etc.
- Offers “large” packs of prescription drugs for low prices, e.g. 400 Viagra pills for $500.