BECKHAM
07-06-2013, 12:54 AM
When Steven Kovacs was in college, a doctor prescribed for him increasingly larger doses of the attention-deficit drug Adderall and the anti-anxiety medication Xanax. When he returned home before starting graduate school, his family doctor insisted on weaning him off the drugs, says his mother Joni Kovacs.
So Steven Kovacs did what many others do: He turned to online pharmacies, which often don't require a prescription from a personal physician. Kovacs says that's how her son bought the drugs on which he overdosed and died in 2009 at age 22.
Online retailers of pharmaceuticals offer convenience and occasionally lower prices. But experts say they require a much higher level of vigilance on the part of shoppers. Along with garden-variety fraud — such as sites that simply don't send you anything in return for your money — there are many instances where consumers received drugs that weren't really what they ordered. Ominously, about half of the drugs sold by websites that don't display a physical address are counterfeit, the World Health Organization estimates.
The numbers are staggering. Legitscript, a private company that certifies online pharmacies for clients including the National Association of Boards of Pharmacies (NABP), estimates there are more than 36,000 websites purporting to sell prescription drugs. Of these, about 270 are legitimate, an additional 1,500 may be legitimate and the rest are not, Legitscript says.
While it may be attractive to save the time or money involved with seeing a doctor, especially if you have little or no insurance, the risks may outweigh the benefits, says Tom Galvin, executive director of the advocacy group Digital Citizens Alliance. The drug may not be the right drug for you or may cause complications with other drugs you are taking, he says.
"If a site is willing to sell you a drug without you seeing a doctor first, you have to question whether they're acting in your interests or in their interests," Galvin says.
With a few exceptions, nearly all states require sites to be licensed as pharmacies to sell to consumers in that state. Most also require doctors to actually examine patients before prescribing them drugs. That makes it illegal in most states for sites to allow people to fill out forms for an online doctor to write a prescription.
A federal law that took effect in 2009 requires doctors to meet with patients in person before sites marketing addictive controlled substances, including many painkillers, can sell them any prescription drug. The law included so many other requirements for sites selling narcotics that Drug Enforcement Administration Supervisory Special Agent Robert Hill says it "virtually eliminated" the illegal sites selling them.
But that still leaves tens of thousands of sites that often sell drugs that aren't listed as controlled substances but are hardly harmless. These include painkillers such as Tramadol, which federal officials say is a drug of concern because it can be addictive.
That's not to suggest online drug stores are all bad. Some have NABP's highest certification — Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice sites (VIPPS) — and can be found listed on NABP.com. Check Legitscript.com to find the more than 260 others that Legitscript says are OK.
While the risk of contaminated or counterfeit drugs can affect people of all ages, the easy access to drugs online is of particular concern to parents of young people.
Kovacs cites statistics that show a child overdoses every four minutes in New York State. She currently is campaigning for a law in New York state that would require people to call 911 if someone they are with needs medical attention.
But she's also been speaking out about the dangers of online drug stores.
"Most of the drugs are coming from Third World countries, are not regulated and you don't know what you're getting," Kovacs says. "How can you be assured of what you are taking?"
The Food and Drug Administration says you might be dealing with what it calls a fake online pharmacy if it:
•Allows you to buy drugs without a prescription from your doctor
•Offers cheap prices that seem too good to be true
•Sends spam or unsolicited email offering cheap drugs
• Is located outside of the United States
• Is not licensed in the United States.
So Steven Kovacs did what many others do: He turned to online pharmacies, which often don't require a prescription from a personal physician. Kovacs says that's how her son bought the drugs on which he overdosed and died in 2009 at age 22.
Online retailers of pharmaceuticals offer convenience and occasionally lower prices. But experts say they require a much higher level of vigilance on the part of shoppers. Along with garden-variety fraud — such as sites that simply don't send you anything in return for your money — there are many instances where consumers received drugs that weren't really what they ordered. Ominously, about half of the drugs sold by websites that don't display a physical address are counterfeit, the World Health Organization estimates.
The numbers are staggering. Legitscript, a private company that certifies online pharmacies for clients including the National Association of Boards of Pharmacies (NABP), estimates there are more than 36,000 websites purporting to sell prescription drugs. Of these, about 270 are legitimate, an additional 1,500 may be legitimate and the rest are not, Legitscript says.
While it may be attractive to save the time or money involved with seeing a doctor, especially if you have little or no insurance, the risks may outweigh the benefits, says Tom Galvin, executive director of the advocacy group Digital Citizens Alliance. The drug may not be the right drug for you or may cause complications with other drugs you are taking, he says.
"If a site is willing to sell you a drug without you seeing a doctor first, you have to question whether they're acting in your interests or in their interests," Galvin says.
With a few exceptions, nearly all states require sites to be licensed as pharmacies to sell to consumers in that state. Most also require doctors to actually examine patients before prescribing them drugs. That makes it illegal in most states for sites to allow people to fill out forms for an online doctor to write a prescription.
A federal law that took effect in 2009 requires doctors to meet with patients in person before sites marketing addictive controlled substances, including many painkillers, can sell them any prescription drug. The law included so many other requirements for sites selling narcotics that Drug Enforcement Administration Supervisory Special Agent Robert Hill says it "virtually eliminated" the illegal sites selling them.
But that still leaves tens of thousands of sites that often sell drugs that aren't listed as controlled substances but are hardly harmless. These include painkillers such as Tramadol, which federal officials say is a drug of concern because it can be addictive.
That's not to suggest online drug stores are all bad. Some have NABP's highest certification — Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice sites (VIPPS) — and can be found listed on NABP.com. Check Legitscript.com to find the more than 260 others that Legitscript says are OK.
While the risk of contaminated or counterfeit drugs can affect people of all ages, the easy access to drugs online is of particular concern to parents of young people.
Kovacs cites statistics that show a child overdoses every four minutes in New York State. She currently is campaigning for a law in New York state that would require people to call 911 if someone they are with needs medical attention.
But she's also been speaking out about the dangers of online drug stores.
"Most of the drugs are coming from Third World countries, are not regulated and you don't know what you're getting," Kovacs says. "How can you be assured of what you are taking?"
The Food and Drug Administration says you might be dealing with what it calls a fake online pharmacy if it:
•Allows you to buy drugs without a prescription from your doctor
•Offers cheap prices that seem too good to be true
•Sends spam or unsolicited email offering cheap drugs
• Is located outside of the United States
• Is not licensed in the United States.