Doug / 04-16-2008 / Pharmacy Errors

Internet Shopping for Prescription Meds

Everyone knows that the cost of prescription medications in the U.S. is extremely high and its taking a bigger and bigger piece of the family income, particularly that of senior citizens.

According to the About.com:Senior Health, one in four Americans has no prescription drug insurance. This often forces them to buy their prescription drugs on the Internet through online “pharmacies”. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) understands this need to search out the best price for your medications, but they want to make certain that you are getting safe drugs from Internet.

They caution consumers that not all online pharmacies are licensed to sell drugs in the U.S. You can’t even be certain there is a licensed pharmacist on staff to help you. Therefore, any information you get may not be accurate or you may get the wrong medication. There is also no guarantee that they will keep your personal information private.

The FDA also warns that some of the medications bought online may not be medicine at all; they may be bogus pills. You also cannot be certain the the strength of the medication matches your prescription or even if they are out of date so may not work at all. Since you don’t know where these pharmacies get their medications, you are not guaranteed that they don’t include hazardous ingredients or that they are produced within our quality control standards.

The FDA is not in the business of trying to stop you from getting the best price for your prescriptions by buying online. They just want you to do so safely and to protect yourself from unscrupulous pharmacies.

For more complete information, please see their Consumer Safety Guide that has some very simple rules to follow before you make your online purchases.

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