Ordering prescription drugs online couldn’t be tough. After taking online doctor consultation with a few clicks, you can have medications delivered right to your door, without ever having to see a doctor or go to local pharmacy. People living with chronic illnesses depend on prescription medications, but many have trouble affording the drugs they need and getting to doctor’s appointments to obtain prescriptions. The lure and appeal of internet pharmacies is obvious, but it almost seems too good to true.
Rise of Counterfeit Drugs:
Criminal rings have turned counterfeiting medicines into a lucrative global enterprise. Counterfeiters use fake online pharmacies to peddle their wares to unsuspecting Internet users who are trying to save time and money after taking doctor consultation.
A report from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) examined more than 8,000 online pharmacy sites and found that:
40% of medicine may be fake in some countries.
96% of online pharmacies are not following state and federal laws and regulations.
85% don’t require a prescription for delivering online medicine.
43.9% sell non-FDA approved medicines.
More than 4,000 do not provide a physical address on their websites.
Counterfeit medicines claiming to treat cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and other serious illnesses have all been discovered on these sites, the report says. These sketchy online pharmacies are typically unlicensed, unaccredited and operating illegally by ordering and shipping drugs. Therefore, the products these websites sell are not tested, verified or deemed.
Prescriptions ordered online can be problematic in several ways. Fake drugs might contain too little or too much of active ingredient, they may contain wrong medicine, or they may contain no medicine at all. Investigations have found counterfeit drugs containing dangerous ingredients, such as fentanyl, arsenic, floor wax and even paint after taking doctor online consultation.
Counterfeiters do not take a patient’s overall health or immune system into consideration when selling fake or sub-standard forms of life-sustaining medicines,” says a report by the Partnership for Safe Medicines, a public health group comprised of 69 non-profit organizations committed to protecting consumers. They are not interested in whether the patient is taking other medications or if the combination of medications will result in an adverse reaction. They aren’t concerned that the products sold to treat potentially deadly diseases aren’t effective either.
How to Buy Medications Online Safely?
If a trip to local pharmacy still isn’t a possibility, there are legitimate retailers online. Not all Internet pharmacies are shady fronts selling fake medications. Many websites operate legally and offer convenience, privacy and safeguards for consumers, but differentiating them from illegitimate entities is easier for medicine order online.