Online Pharmacy & Health Articles

Since about the year 2000, hundreds of pharmacies have begun operating over the internet. Many such pharmacies are, in some ways, similar to community pharmacies; the primary difference is the method by which the medications are requested and received. Some customers consider this to be more convenient than traveling to a community drugstore.[1]

While most internet pharmacies sell prescription drugs only with a prescription, some do not require a pre-written prescription. In some countries, this is because prescriptions are not required. Some customers order drugs from such pharmacies to avoid the inconvenience of visiting a doctor or to obtain medications which their doctors were unwilling to prescribe. Many of these websites employ their own in house physicians to review the situation and write a prescription accordingly. Some websites have been known in the past to offer medications without a prescription or a doctor review. However, this practice has been criticized as potentially dangerous, especially by those who feel that only doctors can reliably assess contraindications, risk/benefit ratios, and an individual’s overall suitability for use of a medication.[2] Pharmacies offering medication without a prescription and doctor review or supervision are sometimes fraudulent.

In the United States, there has been a push to legalize importation of medications from Canada and several European countries, in order to reduce consumer costs. Although importation of prescription medication usually violates Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and federal laws, enforcement is generally targeted at international drug suppliers, rather than consumers. Often Americans purchase lower-cost foreign drugs by driving to Canadian or Mexican pharmacies, buying their medications when traveling abroad on vacation, or, buying from foreign pharmacies that ship their orders via mail.

International consumers often purchase drugs online from online pharmacies in their own countries, or, those located in other nations such as India, Israel and the Philippines. Some of these pharmacies require prescriptions, while others do not, or, ask the customer to fill in a health questionnaire with their order. Drugs sold and distributed in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world are often produced by well-known manufacturers such as Pfizer, Wyeth, generic Indian drugmakers Cipla and Ranbaxy, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel. In fact, it’s a fairly common practice for North American and European visitors to countries like Thailand, India and South Africa to purchase and bring home — affordable medications for themselves, family members or friends. Prices can be up to 80 percent or greater savings compared to back home. Travelers may avoid possible difficulties going through customs with their medication purchases by mailing the drugs to their home so they receive them upon their return.

To save money, many uninsured and underinsured U.S. consumers purchase drugs from online pharmacies in Canada, India, the UK and other countries and receive their purchases by mail. Especially for uninsured Americans taking prescription drugs for chronic health conditions, a major attraction of looking to online pharmacies abroad is that nearly every country outside the U.S. controls its drug prices. The U.S. does not.

Few of these orders are investigated because U.S. authorities are much more worried about controlling illegal pharmacies in the U.S., not consumers themselves. In fact, the Washington Post reported that “.. millions of Americans have turned to Mexico and other countries in search of bargain drugs.” “U.S. Customs estimates 10 million U.S. citizens bring in medications at land borders each year. An additional 2 million packages of pharmaceuticals arrive annually by international mail from Thailand, India, South Africa and other points. Still more packages come from online pharmacies in Canada.” [3]

While American consumers looking abroad almost exclusively turned to Canadian pharmacies for affordable medications from 2000 to about 2005, today, many consumers head to online pharmacies in India, South Africa and other countries where drug prices are often lower than in Canada.