NABP: 96% of Online Pharmacies are Not Safe for Consumers
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) issued a progress report for state and federal regulators summarizing the overwhelming quantity of internet drug outlets selling prescription medications operating out of compliance with laws and patient safety standards.
Illustration by Don Hankins via Flickr.
The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) issued a progress report for state and federal regulators summarizing the overwhelming quantity of internet drug outlets selling prescription medications operating out of compliance with laws and patient safety standards.
As of March 4, 2011, NABP conducted reviews of 7,541 internet pharmacies and discovered that 7,234 of them were noncompliant with state and federal laws, as well as NABP patient safety and pharmacy practice standards.
The NABP lists the 7,234 internet drug websites as Not Recommended on its website.
Of those 7,234 not recommended, 6,018, or 83% do not require a valid prescription, medical consults with a pharmacist, or take insurance. 6,878, or 95%, of those not recommended sites appear to be associated with an affiliate network.
Only 258 internet pharmacies of those 7,541 reviewed appear to be “potentially legitimate,” reports NABP, and those accredited through NABP’s Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) programs is less than 1%.
Says the NABP, “One of the unfortunate consequences of our globalized marketplace, however, is the likelihood that those counterfeit and substandard drugs will make their way into medicine cabinets worldwide, as online sellers seek bargain prices from questionable distributors, and consumers neglect to question whether the substance they are buying is real medicine.”
“In cases involving counterfeit medications, one might say the poisonings are quite intentional – on the part of the seller.
“And if counterfeit drugs do not directly harm patients with inaccurate dose levels, contaminated, or toxic substances, they deprive patients of life-saving medications, allowing disease to progress and spread, especially in developing countries where the incidence of counterfeit drugs is considerably higher than in the developed countries of the world,” warns the NABP.
The full report is available on the NABP website, including a full listing of the pharmacies reviewed. NABP recommends that patients use VIPPS certified pharmacies for patient and pet medications because they have successfully completed the thorough NABP accreditation process. In addition e-Advertiser Approved websites can not fill new prescription drug orders via the internet, but can accept refill requests from existing customers and other prescription drug-related services.