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medpundit |
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Wednesday, March 31, 2004American consumers bargain hunting for prescriptions from these foreign sources increasingly find that the pharmaceuticals have expired, been diluted or contaminated, or even replaced with counterfeit medications. While HealthCanada regulates many pharmacies in Canada, many "cross border" pharmacies that primarily import drugs for sale to American seniors, are not regulated by either HealthCanada or the FDA. With no regulatory oversight, it is possible that consumers could unknowingly receive their prescription in the wrong dosage or in the worst case, be given the wrong drug entirely. The FDA has seen a 300 percent increase in counterfeit cases over the past three years, many of which involve well-organized criminal operations that ship finished drug products that resemble legitimate drugs but may contain inactive ingredients, incorrect ingredients, improper doses or be otherwise contaminated. At a press briefing held at the American Pharmaceutical Association's annual meeting in Seattle this week, Neupert recommended that consumers looking for low cost drugs online shop only at pharmacies certified through the NABP's VIPPS program. VIPPS-certified online pharmacies provide consumers seeking online savings confidence that their orders will be processed by a licensed pharmacy with policies implementing all applicable federal and state regulations. Sure, Drugstore.com has a self-interest to protect, but the advise is still good advise, especially with the recent problems that have been surfacing with counterfeit drugs. Although, even traditional pharmacies have had problems with counterfeits from their wholesalers, at least if they're certified there's some accountability. You can access the VIPPS here. posted by Sydney on 3/31/2004 08:19:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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