NABP warns against ordering Rxs online

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) recently issued a report listing illegal online drug sellers and detailing the threat they pose to the public.

The Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program Progress Report for State and Federal Regulators: April 2015 lists websites selling medicine illegally online to U.S. citizens. Click here to see that list.

See also: NABP secures .pharmacy domain

The report also highlights NABP’s consumer outreach efforts through its .pharmacy domain and AWAR_XE Prescription Drug Safety programs.

“Of the websites identified by NABP as not recommended, the majority were found to be dispensing prescription drugs without a valid prescription. In fact, for each of the past seven years that NABP has been reviewing rogue Internet drug outlets, this was by far the most common reason sites were listed as not recommended. These include sites dispensing drugs based solely on an online questionnaire, as well as those requiring no prescription at all,” the reported stated.

“Many also offer foreign and unapproved drugs. Both of these factors pose a public health risk that undermines the regulations put in place in the United States and other developed countries to set standards for the practice of pharmacy, standards for medication safety and efficacy, and regulations for safeguarding the medication supply chain from counterfeit drugs,” the report stated.

The NABP report found that 96.2% of the 11,000 Internet drug websites it reviewed were not in compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws and practice standards.

Nearly 89% of the websites sold drugs without valid prescriptions; and nearly half of the drugs dispensed were either foreign or not approved by the FDA.

“Public health advocates find that one of the primary challenges in protecting consumers from illegal online drug sellers is the lack of awareness of the potential health and safety risks posed by fake online pharmacies,” the report stated.