Dangers of Buying Prescription Drugs Online

By Marlo Sollitto, AgingCare.com Contribution Editor

It couldn’t be easier—ordering prescription drugs online with a few clicks of the mouse and having them delivered right to your door, without ever having to see a doctor. People living with chronic illnesses depend on prescription medications. But many have trouble affording the drugs they need; while other elders can’t easily get to the doctor. The lure and appeal of internet pharmacies is obvious: cheaper drugs that are easy to get. But is it safe? In many cases, they are not.

Around the world, however, criminal rings have turned the business of counterfeiting medicines into a $75 billion global enterprise, according to a report by the Partnership for Safe Medicines (www.safemedicines.org). These fake pharmacies are prevalent online. A report from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), gleaned from examining more than 8,000 online pharmacy sites 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
43.9% sell non-FDA approved medicines
More than 4,000 do not provide a physical address

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The Dangers of Buying Prescription Medications Online originally appeared on AgingCare.com.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

LMj S.

10:30AM PDT on Mar 27, 2012

thank you.

March 27
send a green star

Charlene R.

7:16PM PDT on Mar 19, 2012

Obviously, diligence is necessary, when making these buys.

March 19
send a green star

Caroline L.

5:13PM PDT on Mar 18, 2012

I have been buying levothyroxine online from Mexico for years. I have to take it or I will die a slow, horrible death. I have had thyroid comas and they are not fun. But I can say with certainty that I have not had a single problem with the pills I buy. I have had my levels checked repeatedly, mostly by medical professionals who are worried about it when I go to the hospital for some other reason. In every instance, the levels are normal. The pills I get are in a blister pack with a date and a manufacturers name on them.. a manufacturer I recognize from the US. I can say that it has saved me a lot of misery and possibly even kept me alive while I struggle with this economy. I lost my health insurance years ago when I lost my last good job. Since then I work for myself and get by. But I can safely say the site I use is legit and very safe.

March 18
send a green star

Grover S.

1:43PM PDT on Mar 17, 2012

I trust the on line pharmacies more than I do the FDA.

They have sold their sole to the drug companies.

March 17
send a green star

Vicky P.

9:50AM PDT on Mar 17, 2012

I wouldn't ever buy meds online

JL A.

2:03AM PDT on Mar 17, 2012

oh my !

Nimue P.

6:21PM PDT on Mar 16, 2012

Good to know.

March 16
send a green star

Past Member .

3:22PM PDT on Mar 16, 2012

Since my doctor retired in 1998, I have been buying some of my meds online and never have had any problems with them being fake. I'm sure that in some rare cases some criminal element tried to make a fast buck doing this but something like this wouldn't last long. Big money is the name of the game for those who manufacture drugs and drugs without prescriptions are very attractive to people who do not have the money to pay for doctor visits. Doctors make alot of money prescribing drugs that are unnecessary all the time especially to the elderly in nursing homes and to anybody that doesn't know any better. Instead of going after the online pharamacies I think you better start doing your homework and start questioning why your doctor is prescribing Aricept or Namenda to your elderly mother who no longer knows who you are.

Mary L.

2:34PM PDT on Mar 16, 2012

When is this country, the US, going to get with it and help _people_ instead of blackmailing big pharma?

There's be no need for this kind of danger if medicine were priced. Please don't tell me the first pill they make costs a billion and the second cost .05 cents. Big pharma gets _paid_ by the taxpayers of the US (they call it subsidies, I call it blackmail). In return the same tax payers get the shaft, and it's not even a shot.

Victor M.

1:47PM PDT on Mar 16, 2012

bad habit