Online pharmacy
The coroner in Leicester investigating a death found that a patient requesting drugs “has potential access to multiple online pharmacies”, each of which “have no knowledge of what each other have been prescribing”.
People living in the United States and other countries where prescription medications are costly may turn to online pharmacies to save money.
This practice has been criticized as potentially dangerous, especially by those who feel that only doctors can reliably assess contraindications, risk/benefit, and the suitability of a medication for a specific individual.
[10] Pharmacies offering medication without requiring a prescription, doctor review, or supervision are sometimes fraudulent and may supply counterfeit, ineffective, and possibly dangerous medicines.
An additional 2 million packages of pharmaceuticals arrive annually by international mail from Thailand, India, South Africa, and other countries.
[17] Factors independently associated with importation by U.S. residents are age greater than 45 years, south or west region of residence, Hispanic ethnicity, college education, poor or near-poor poverty status, lack of U.S. citizenship, travel to developing countries, lack of health insurance, high family out-of-pocket medical costs, trouble finding a healthcare provider, fair or poor self-reported health status, filling a prescription on the Internet, and using online chat groups to learn about health.
[18] Former US President Barack Obama's budget supported a plan to allow people to buy cheaper drugs from other countries.
[19] A 2016 study suggested that providing health insurance coverage may significantly reduce personal prescription drug importation and the subsequent risk of exposure to counterfeit, adulterated, and substandard medications.
[14] Furthermore, health insurance coverage is likely to be particularly effective at reducing importation among Hispanic persons; those born in Latin America, Russia, or Europe; and people that traveled to developing countries.
[23] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refers to Internet users interested in using an online pharmacy to the VIPPS program.
[25] Canadian and all non-U.S. online pharmacies that sell prescription medication to Americans, regardless of credentials, are not eligible for approval in the VIPPS and LegitScript programs.
The FDA believes that organized criminal networks control many online pharmacies that sell illegal pharmaceutical products without prescriptions.
[27] In 2014, The U.S. FDA, in partnership with other federal and international agencies and technology companies like Google, took action against websites that were selling drugs to U.S.
The U.S. FDA believes that ICANN should do more to block and seize what the agency views as illegal online pharmacy websites.
"[31] The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization defending civil rights on the Internet, views the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on the Internet as a form of censorship that threatens the ability of American consumers to access medicines in other countries purchased from online pharmacies that sell legitimate medicines.
[32] A proposal called the Safe Importation Action Plan would allow states, wholesalers and pharmacies, but not patients, to buy drugs from Canada.
Of the three primary entrepreneurs of online Canadian drugs sold to the United States, one has been imprisoned, one left the industry, and the third is under investigation for criminal wrongdoing.
"[A lack of] regulatory control over drug advertisements on television or the Internet[49]" combined with a growing E-commerce in India has led to a significant increase in the use of online pharmacies.
[58] The Delhi High Court banned the online sale of medicines in the country on December 12, 2018 after listening to a Public Interest Litigation hearing by Dr. Ahmed Zaheer.
[59] In 2015, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan Act passed[60] for the registration of homeopathic, herbal, unani, allopathic, and nutraceutical products.
[64] In the U.K, more than 2 million people buy drugs regularly on the Internet from online pharmacies; some are legitimate, but others have "dangerous practices" that could endanger children.
In April 2017, the Care Quality Commission suspended the registration of Doctor Matt Ltd because of inadequate medical assessment of prescription requests.
