The advent of the Internet has opened a whole new avenue of shopping possibilities for consumers in the United States and elsewhere around the world. Those who hate crowds can now shop for the goods they need from the comfort of their homes without having to elbow their way through crowded shopping malls and department stores. And with the convenience of online shopping, store hours are no longer a consideration, because online emporiums are available 24-7 every day of the year.
However, with all the potential benefits of online shopping come a number of possible pitfalls as well. And nowhere is this truer than in the purchase of prescription medications from online vendors. After all, some of these medications must be taken to treat potentially life-threatening illnesses. It’s important that the drugs you buy contain all the ingredients they are supposed to have to be effective. And it’s equally important that they contain no ingredients or filler materials that might make them hazardous to your health.
To help take some of the confusion and potential peril out of ordering prescription drugs online, here are some frequently asked questions about this issue, along with answers that hopefully will provide some useful guidance.
Q: Is It Safe to Buy Medications from Foreign Sources?
A: Although it’s a widespread practice among Americans looking to save money, ordering prescription drugs from websites based outside the United States can be “a huge gamble,” according to New York Times columnist Anahad O’Connor. Many websites that claim to be based in Canada, our friendly and generally reputable neighbor to the north, are actually located in third world countries with lax regulations governing prescription drugs. Those ordering from websites of questionable origin may end up with counterfeit drugs or, worse yet, drugs that are tainted with filler materials that can be toxic.
Q: What about Online Vendors That Don’t Require Prescriptions?
A: Steer clear of any online vendors that offer to sell prescription drugs without requiring that you present a valid prescription. U.S. law requires that these drugs be dispensed only to individuals who have prescriptions, and online pharmacies that skirt this rule should not be trusted. What you get almost certainly will not be what you ordered.
Q: What about Online Medical Consultations?
A: For the convenience of their customers who do not have a prescription for the drug they seek to purchase, some online pharmacies, including eDrugstore.com, offer medical consultations with licensed U.S. physicians. These consultations require that the customer fill out a detailed questionnaire covering his or her medical history as well as any medications that are currently being taken. This personal medical data is reviewed by a physician who can then make a determination whether to write a prescription for the medication being sought.
Q: How Do I Know That My Personal and Financial Data Is Safe?
A: Before releasing any sensitive personal or financial information to an online vendor, you should first check out the security safeguards offered by the vendor. Reputable U.S.-based online drugstores, including eDrugstore.com, employ advanced data encryption, such as Secure Sockets Layer technology, to protect the data of their customers.
Q: Does It Matter Who Dispenses the Medications?
A: To enjoy all the safeguards ensured by the U.S. regulatory framework governing the manufacture and distribution of prescription drugs, it’s best to buy only from websites that deal with licensed U.S. pharmacies. For example, every pill sold by eDrugstore is obtained directly from its manufacturer or through a reputable U.S.-based pharmaceutical wholesaler.
Q: How Do I Know I’m Getting FDA-Approved Medication?
A: By law, every pharmaceutical manufacturer is required to print a lot number on the container holding the medication or on the packaging insert that accompanies the drug. To be absolutely certain that the drugs you receive are authentic FDA-approved medications, you can contact the manufacturer with the lot number on the drug to find out when and where the drug you received was manufactured. You can also confirm that the printed expiration date for that drug is accurate.
Q: How Can I Find Out about an Online Vendor’s Reliability?
A: Before placing an order with any online vendor of prescription medications, it’s a good idea to find out whatever you can about its business reputation and dependability. Most U.S.-based operations — or their parent companies — are listed by the local office of the Better Business Bureau. A quick visit to the BBB site can tell you whether or not the vendor or its parent is accredited by the BBB and how it is rated. These scores range from a low of F to a high of A+, based on a variety of factors, including length of time in business, volume of customer complaints, and the way in which such complaints have been handled in the recent past. A U.S.-based vendor of prescription drugs also should list contact information on its website, so that prospective customers can call if they have questions not already answered on the site.
Q: How do I evaluate the information that I find on the Internet?
A: Many would-be buyers of online prescription medications do some research on the Internet before selecting a vendor and placing an order. It’s important to be able to find reliable information from trusted sources, but how does one evaluate the quality of online resources. By checking out the letters at the end of an Internet address, you can learn a little bit about the type of website you’re viewing. And at least in some cases, you can make some reasonable assumptions about the website’s reliability. Perhaps, the most common extension is “.com,” which indicates that the website belongs to a commercial enterprise. Other common Internet extensions are “.org,” “.edu,” and “.gov.” A website with the extension “.org” indicates that the site belongs to a non-commercial organization, while the “.edu” and “.gov” extensions are attached to websites that belong to either educational or governmental institutions. Information found on websites with the “.edu” and “.gov” extensions is generally the most reliable. While the “.org” extension is usually found on websites of reputable nonprofit organizations, there are exceptions so tread carefully, trying to limit your research to the websites of organizations with which you are familiar. The ubiquitous “.com” extension tells us little — good or bad — about the commercial enterprise behind the website.
For other articles about telemedicine and a wide range of allied topics, check out our blog.
Don Amerman is a freelance author who writes extensively about a wide array of nutrition and health-related topics.
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