Pharmacies Internet

Fentiman, Linda C. 2003. Internet Pharmacies and the Need for a New Federalism Protecting Consumers while Increasing Access to Prescription Dmgs. Rutgers Law Review 56 119-179. 

The Internet pharmacies sold drugs without a prescription and sent most of their products to the United States. Authorities in the United States became aware of the trafficking because packages and letters containing illegal drugs constantly arrived from Thailand. Drug addicts accounted for many of the customers. 

With authorities from both countries working together, Thai officials shut down three Internet pharmacies during November of 1999 through January of 2000. 

Association of Chain Drug Stores, 2006). The new millennium also saw the implementation of Internet pharmacy sites, many of which are owned and operated by traditional brick and mortar chain pharmacy corporations. 

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has recognized the special needs and problems that Internet pharmacy has created. In the spring of 1999, the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites... 

VIPPS) Program was unveiled in response to public concern over the safely of Internet pharmacy sites. VIPPS is a certification that is earned after a pharmacy complies with licensing and inspection requirements of its state and of each state in which it provides goods and services to patients. Pharmacies that have... 

Network support and development (including online access to Internet pharmacies and mail order services)... 

Wifh the advent of the Internet, pharmacy practice has changed considerably (see Chapter 24). Pharmacists practicing in the 1940s would probably have never imagined the technological capabilities of presenf fimes. Nof only are almost all prescriptions filled wifh fhe use of computers, but patients now get online, gain information about medications, order prescriptions, and come to the pharmacy with probing questions based on the information they obtain from fhe Infemef. 

The Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site (VIPPS) program is a voluntary certification program for online pharmacies and is sponsored by the NABP This program, initiated in 1999, provides a means for online pharmacies to demonstrate compliance with VIPPS criteria including patient rights to privacy, authentication and security of prescription orders, adherence to a... 

National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Internet pharmacy and online pharmacies verification VIPPS. http //www.nabp.net/vipps/mtor.asp, accessed June 23, 2003. 

Medicom International. Internet pharmacies opportunities and challenges, 1999. http //www.medicomint.com, accessed January 29, 2001. 

Peterson AM. A survey of selected Internet pharmacies in the United States. /. Am. Pharm Assoc. 2001 41 205-212. 

Internet pharmacies that offer controlled substances for sale must register their actual physical location with the DBA and any necessary state agency. If the Internet pharmacy maintains a central pharmacy warehouse site and offices where prescriptions are verified and controlled substances are shipped, the central pharmacy warehouse and office must be registered with DBA as a retail pharmacy. If an Internet site directs patients to pick up their prescriptions for controlled substances from a local pharmacy, then the local pharmacy must be registered with the DBA. If the Internet site does not have a physical location that handles controlled substances, then the Internet site does not have to register with the DBA. State law may require that the Internet site register with the state authority, also. 

The concern with Internet pharmacies is the existence of a doctor-patient relationship. All controlled substances must be written for a legitimate medical purpose, hence the reason for the relationship. There are four elements that help to demonstrate the existence of a legitimate doctor-patient relationship ... 

The action taken by the FDA and the Department of Justice is no different for an Internet pharmacy than a storefront. The FDA has investigated and referred numerous cases for criminal prosecution and initiated civil enforcement actions against online sellers of drugs and other FDA-regulated products, particularly sellers of drugs not approved by the FDA. 

Internet pharmacy sites that have been accredited by VIPPS are identified by the VIPPS hyperlink seal displayed on their web site. The hyperlink seal allows access to the NABP VIPPS web site where verified information about the pharmacy is maintained by NABP. The VIPPS site has a section for consumers, one for pharmacists, and one for pharmacies. The site can be accessed at <>. 

Internet pharmacies that dispense controlled substance prescriptions must have a legitimate doctor-patient relationship. What four elements demonstrate the existence of this relationship ... 

A pharmacy that wants to be VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) accredited must meet which of the following requirements ... 

What entity established the VIPPS in response to public safety concerns about Internet pharmacies ... 

If you order your medications online, follow these few simple guidelines. First, consult a professional health care provider before ordering or using any medications. This helps eliminate purchasing medications with false claims or those that have harmful interactions with medications currently being taken. Second, obtain a written prescription for any controlled substances and make sure that the online provider requires a copy of a valid prescription before dispensing snch substances. Third, check the standing of the online pharmacy s license with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Approved sites often bear the seal of VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites). Fourth, if your motivation... 

With respect to environmental impact, numerous measures can be implemented to reduce the entiy of licit pharmaceuticals into the environment. Routes of entiy span an enormous spectrum of possibilities (Daughton and Ruhoy, 2008). With illicit drugs, pollution prevention measures— that is, to discourage their manufacture, distribution (e.g., via unapproved Internet pharmacies), and end use—are straightforward, but more difficult to implement. 

Firmly estabhshed wide medical use, but are diverted illegally (e g., theft illegal prescribing such as via unapproved Internet pharmacies ),... 

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