Online Pharmacies: Dangerous Prescription?

Dr. Mallika Marshall Waves Caution Flag Over Buying Discounted Drugs Via The Web

(CBS)  Many of us get them every day: e-mails offering popular prescription drugs online at discount prices.

You may toss them into the spam file, but millions of Americans buy what they're selling - and could be putting themselves in danger, says Early Show medical contributor Dr. Mallika Marshall.

Why are so many people turning to the Internet for prescription drugs? More and more people are finding themselves without health insurance coverage, unable to afford the expensive drugs they need, and the Web appears to offer a cheaper alternative, Marshall explains.

But keep in mind, the Food and Drug Administration says, if you ask for generics, chances are you'll pay less at the drug store than you will if you order brand names online.

Then there are people who say they're too embarrassed or too busy to get to the doctor, and that buying online is easier and more private. But that creates another serious problem: People are looking to the Internet to diagnose their own illnesses, then searching for the recommended drugs online, leaving doctors completely out of the equation - a very dangerous practice.

There've been some truly terrible stories about the consequences of buying drugs from Web sites, Marshall points out. One man who was suffering from severe back pain received an e-mail offering Xanax and Ultam, two pain-killers. He took one of each tablet, suffered a heart attack and went into a coma. The tablets contained four times the usual starting dosage. A woman who decided she suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome bought steroids online, and ended up with severe cataracts, so severe they couldn't be removed. We're hearing more and more stories like this.

In some cases, the problem is the pills are either placebos, made of sugar with only a minimal amount of the drug in them. But some have been found to contain other substances that are dangerous, even potentially deadly. One offshore drugmaker was manufacturing Viagra tablets that were 85-percent cement. There are reports of Viagra that is actually made of vodka. Allergy medications were found to contain steroids, to suppress the symptoms. You just don't know what these counterfeit pills may be made of.

How can you tell the difference between a legit site and an unregulated, rogue one?

Most national drugstore chains, such as CVS or Walgreens, have their own Web sites, and they are completely legitimate, Marshall notes. Most Canadian sites are considered safe, as they are regulated by that government. But sites you become aware of from unsolicited, spam e-mails, could be operating offshore and be completely unregulated. Stay away from them.

ADVICE FROM MARSHALL FOR PEOPLE SHOPPING ONLINE FOR DRUGS

CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR

We can't say it strongly enough. Don't diagnose your own illness and prescribe your own care. See a doctor, and get a prescription.

AVOID SITES THAT DON'T INSIST ON A PRESCRIPTION

Many of those sites will ask for a doctor's name and nothing else. A recent study showed that only 11 percent of online pharmacy sites ask for a prescription. Most will send you the prescription drugs with no prescription. The site should ask for a prescription, should post its name and address, and have a licensed pharmacist you can speak to. If it doesn't, stay away.

ONLY USE LICENSED ONLINE PHARMACIES

To be sure it's licensed, you can check with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in your state. They license online pharmacies, and can tell you if the site you're looking at is safe.

AVOID SITES BASED IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

There are sites based in places such as Belize, Thailand or China, and you don't know where the drugs are coming from, or whether they're counterfeit. That's where the danger lies, so you must be careful.

[raspurrier]

What''s with the "National Association of Boards of Pharmacy" online hyperlink seal? None of the Canadian pharmacy sites display it. Are you trying to kid us?

[fixhist]

Oh, Please GOD!
Help me to over come 1000 Canadian pharmacy emails, I sent 10''s spam reports each week,but it is going on since 18 months or so.
These Canadian pharmacy spamers are not alone, replica watches & gucci shoes,
Oh my God, keep me sane till,till these spammers are ignored by ISPs for pumping out mass SPAM emails.

[fixhist]

Canadian pharmacy is not a physically verifiable location or business, I have been trying to contact its so called sources in Don Mills-Toronto,and Its Marketing firms based in India.
Nothing seems to work to stop these pharmacy spams.
I can''t afford to lose business emails,while I have to go through 1000/day spams from Canadian Pharmacy * replica watches & designer shoes.
Any suggestions are welcome "info at impex-canada com"

Why do people even think that the answer to their problem is over priced side effect laden prescription drugs? There is a natural answer out there but why look? The uneducated deserve these poisons.

[omnibus66]

People are using these foreign online pharmacies because of the unchecked GREED of the drug companies. The drug companies have the same level of responsibility as the oil companies. Both are interested in one thing, MONEY.

Why doesn''t this author protest the hundreds, no thousands of ads on TV for prescription drugs with the line "Ask your doctor if this krap is right for you". These ads are, in effect, encouraging people to diagnose themselves.

Does anyone pay attention to the side effects of these liver killing drugs? They should say, "Ask your UNDERTAKER if this poison is right for you".

Recent tests of some city water systems have shown the presence of all kinds of prescription drugs in the water. If you''re drinking municipally supplied water, you''re probably getting free drugs. What a deal!

[doggiemom1]

"CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR
We can''t say it strongly enough. Don''t diagnose your own illness and prescribe your own care. See a doctor, and get a prescription."

Yea, doctor told my Mom she had a bladder infection gave her medicine and 4 hours later she was DEAD from staff infection. Do not think that Doctors have the all the knowledge because they don''t and are money based just like the drug companies they work for.

[msay3]

Buyer BEWARE!!!!

[hypnotoad72]

Seems equally dangerous to those imported from Canada... or those made in China and exported to (likely Canada along with everywhere else.)

Free trade... in theory not a bad thing, but in practice it''s an even bigger mess.

[geneonlbk]

FACT: there are three licensed "super wholesalers" that supply ALL drugs to all the other distributers and retailers such as CVS.

FACT: Congress protects the three super wholesalers and has repeatedly refused to change the federal laws that allow these three companies to purchase drugs on the worls spot market. These companies are then allowed to erase all traces of where the drugs were purchased. That''s right there is a federal law that allows these companies to avoid all accountability for buying cheap drugs from who knows and then legitimizing them as if they had been produced in some reputable factory in this country.

FACT: Americans, because Concress protects the super three, has absolutely no quality controls on the drugs that are sold to us. Bush knows this and prevents the elderly from purchasing drugs from Canada because he is not sure how safe their drugs are. What a fat lie!

FACT: much of the really expensive stuff is purchased off of street urchines in Mylasia and China. Its all about maximum profits and donations to campaigns.

FACT: Congress holding hearinhs about tainted drugs from China is just a dance for the public. They all know how the game works and they will never clean up the drug supply chain so long as the money flows into their campaigns.

FACT: Americans are stupid fools to believe anything they are told by the most propagandist regime on earth.

[michag2]

I have minimal health insurance because I am self employed, so I pay for my prescriptions as well as the trips to my doctor to get her to write them. I make a decent amount of money, but a trip to the doc costs $200, and she constantly wants follow up visits. My health problems haven''t changed in years. It is always the same diagnosis and the same prescription. Why should I pay $200 a visit to find out what I already know? I do medical marketing and I have been in lots of meetings with doctors and hospitals and discussed with them ways to raise revenues. How to get people to use this or that piece of equipment. Take this or that test. I know they have to make a living and required visits and tests are the way they do that, but I don''t have the money to support them. I just want my blood pressure meds without having to hop up on the table and let them check it for the umpteenth time. I can check it at home. I know that these regs are the result of the AMA lobby because I have been in on discussions about just that. Annual checkups for EVERYTHING are bread and butter money to doctors. Unfortunately it is MY money. I have been buying the basics on line, and if I get sick or notice a change I will go to the doctor.

[carlylaine]

Yea yea yea...doctors have no clue how to work with a speaker phone...sure...they''d love to prescribe medications to us and give us surgery when they deem it necessary...but can you really trust that your best interest is their interest-if they can''t use a speaker phone? No, I think not.

Wise up, doctors make their money from the drug company kickbacks and surgeries. They are afraid that should the general public diagnose and medicate themselves they''d be out of money for daily golf, tennis, rubbing elbows, driving fancy cars, raising obnoxious spoiled rotten kids, fancy houses, HOs galore, hoity-toity wives...

MY GAWD MAN, you can''t know your body better than a doctor!!!

[brainteaser2]

The idea is to find a reputable online pharmacy. Just like land based pharmacies there are good ones and bad ones. I have one that has an excellent customer department and has professionals available to answer questions. Like so much else on the internet you will find fraud.

[hologram5]

Big Pharma companies are what is running this medical industry as well as lining the pockets of 99% of all politicians, why would they want to change that? too much money involved to make changes now.

[rf35]

fixhist: just buy a good spam filter program and you won''t get more e-mails. Be sure to unsubscribe from those you already get if they offer the option. This will require an initial time investment, but is well worth it.
Finally, set up a web-based e-mail account. Every time you are asked for your e-mail by a company you think/know will sell your address or otherwise use it for spam, give them that e-mail. Then just go in once a week and delete everything. Since I started doing this, 99% of the e-mail in my inbox is legitimate.

[rf35]

The thing that kills me about my doctor is that I can only be seen for one complaint at a time. Each separate problem requires a separate appointment. This started about a year ago. Before, I would make an appointment only after at least three things were wrong. Nowadays, I seldom bother with the doctor...I just self-diagnose and self-medicate with OTC stuff whenever possible. I only see the dr as a last resort.

[rf35]

Beware of so-called "all-natural" products, especially those that claim to treat or cure something. "Natural" seems to have a pretty broad definition of late. Patented blends that are mostly caffeine and sugar with a bunch of presumptuously named plant extracts that are just the scientific names for weeds you can find in most lawns. The blend gets an officious sounding name or one that is remarkably close to a real product and sold to anyone gullible enough to shell out "just $29.95 (+ S&H).%u201D The warning label is longer than some books, but because it%u2019s %u201Call-natural,%u201D people don%u2019t bother and start popping the pills in blissful ignorance. If the pills actually do anything beyond a placebo effect, it%u2019s probably nothing good...just raises your blood pressure (hopefully temporarily). The drugs from your doctor aren%u2019t much better, they just admit to having carefully researched chemicals in them. That%u2019s not to say that if the research proved them deadly, they wouldn%u2019t still be aggressively marketed and sold. So what%u2019s a person to do? Live healthy, take only the drugs you absolutely must have, use remedies you make at home so at least you know what%u2019s going into them, and grow as much of your own food as possible. Then you can quit complaining about all those genetically modified crops or meat shot up with steroids and antibiotics and devote your energy to something more positive.