Verified Internet Pharmacy

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... 

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... 

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

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... 

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. 

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 <>. 

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