Are Your Online Medications Real or Fake–Determining If Internet Medications Are Legitimate

Are Your Online Medications Real or Fake-Determining If Internet Medications Are Legitimate

Due to the high cost of medications, many Americans are ordering their drugs on line. Doctors cannot verify the safety or quality of these online medications. Counterfeit medications kill more than 700,000 people worldwide every year.

Now there is resource to stop this epidemic. mPedigree Network offers a free call phone service to consumers to determine if a drug is legit. Shoppers can scratch (not scratch and sniff!) off a special label on drug packages, then text the serial number beneath to a hotline linked to a database of drug serial numbers. A reply text states the medication’s legitimacy and expiration date.

Bottom Line: Let the buyer beware may apply to purses, shoes, and shirts but not to your medications. You need to be sure that the medications you take are, indeed, real before submitting your healthcare to an online pharmacy.

For more information go to mpedigree.net.

Purchasing Medications Online-Let the Buyer Beware

With the high cost of prescription medications many patients are frequently asked about ordering medications online. This is certainly understandable with the high cost of medications, so many of our patients on fixed income, and the high unemployment rate making affording medication difficult or impossible. Patients are looking to their physicians for advice on buying medications online. This is the advice I give the patient in a written form to help them make the decision of whether to purchase medications over the Internet.
The FDA is trying to stop the flow of illegal ED drugs, but these medicines still circulate freely on the Internet. Legitimate online pharmacies do exist. It just takes a little bit of sleuthing to find them.
Here’s what to look for when you buy ED drugs online:
• A licensed pharmacy with an address in the U.S. (Check with your state board of pharmacy or the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.)
• A pharmacy that requires a prescription from your doctor
• Drugs that are approved by the FDA
• Containers that are clearly labeled with the name of the drug and the dosage
• A licensed pharmacist who is available to answer your questions
• A contact phone number to call if you have questions or problems
A clearly stated privacy policy that protects your credit card number and other personal information
Bottom Line: Doctors can only assume responsibility for medications they prescribe that are obtained from reputable pharmacies located in the United States. However, it may be possible to find drugs online if you follow the caveats described above.