Low Prices and Bad Medicine Online

By George Anderson


The good news for consumers is that they can save a bundle of money buying
prescriptions online.


According to PharmacyChecker.com, Canadian web sites charge an average of 49%
less (excluding shipping) than American web sites on the top 1500 prescription
medicines sold online.


The bad news is that fifty percent of online pharmacies are not properly licensed
and one-third lack adequate privacy policies.


Dr. Tod Cooperman, president, PharmacyChecker told Reuters Health most
Mexico-based pharmacies are not licensed and there are a number of unlicensed
Canadian and US sites, as well. “There are a few that really check out fine
and plenty that don’t.”


The top sites, according to PharmacyCheck, include three Canadian and two US
businesses. The five are Adv-care.com, CrossBorderPharmacy.com, RxNorth.com,
CVS.com and Drugstore.com.


Moderator’s Comment: Are greater regulatory and oversight
controls needed for online pharmacy services or will the market sort itself
out?


Dr. Cooperman told Reuters Health it pays to shop around
regardless of the country where the prescription is to be filled. PharmacyChecker
found US web sites that do not require a prescription charge 54 percent more
than those that do. Mexican site prices were essentially the same as those in
the US. [George
Anderson – Moderator
]


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