Rx online: know what you're getting

Muscle & Fitness, Feb, 2005 by Dwayne Jackson

You've seen the pop-ups that advertise prescription drugs available online. But how do you know what you're really getting when you order? After all, the drugs could be counterfeit. Counterfeit drugs are broadly defined as medicines that are: a) fakes containing no active ingredients, b) a different drug than prescribed, c) real drugs that are diluted or d) unapproved foreign versions of a drug sold in the U.S. Another potential problem is purchasing legitimate drugs that were stolen from wholesale. These drugs are commonly mishandled and not properly stored (i.e., not refrigerated), making them useless to patients.

To protect your health, the FDA recommends that you should buy only from Internet pharmacies located in the U.S. To check on location, visit the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) website at www.nabp.net/vipps There, you can find licensed Internet pharmacies located in the United States.

Another option is the less-expensive Canadian Internet pharmacy market. To evaluate whether one of these Internet pharmacies is legitimate, make sure it: a) has a physical address in the country it claims to be located in, b) requires a medical-history evaluation before it sells you any drug, c) requires a prescription from a doctor, d) offers a telephone number you can call to speak to a pharmacist and e) has a well-defined privacy and security policy.

RELATED ARTICLE: RISK-FREE INTERNET SHOPPING

The VIPPS website lists the following sites as safe:

* Accurate Pharmacy (accuratepharmacy.com)

* AdvanceRx.com (advancerx.com)

* Anthem Prescription (anthem.com)

* Caremark, Inc. (caremark.com)

* CIGNA Tel-Drug (teldrug.com)

* ClickPharmacy.com (clickpharmacy.com)

* Drugstore.com (drugstore.com)

* Familymeds.com (familymeds.com)

BY DWAYNE JACKSON, MS

M&F Science Editor JIM STOPPANI, PHD