Page 56 - 2012-may-jun

Basic HTML Version

56
Healthcare Journal of baton rouge  
MAY / JUN 2012
American consumers hope that medication will
alleviate symptoms, cure ailments, or manage
disease. However, counterfeit medications can
affect the most susceptible consumers and cre-
ate real health risks. Counterfeiters are becom-
ing increasingly sophisticated by using websites designed to de-
liberately impersonate the layout of legitimate pharmacies and
even claim to be endorsed by government agencies. By hid-
ing behind the anonymity and unaccountability of the internet,
these online pharmacies are selling unsafe counterfeit medica-
tions and offering drugs to consumers without a prescription
or consultation with a doctor.
Snake Oil in Cyberspace
Act Targets Fraudulent Online
Pharmacies
by
congressman bill cassidy, MD
N
Legislative
Correspondent
umerous examples of abuse are becoming common
as more Americans shop for medications online. For
instance, a man in Wichita, Kansas died from an ac-
cidental overdose of drugs he received through an online phar-
macy. He was able to purchase the drugs without a prescription
from a doctor, essentially bypassing the expert that would have
instructed the man on the proper use. Another example is a fake
drug sold as the cancer drug Avastin, which was distributed in
the United States from a Canadian distributor. Instead of pa-
tients receiving a drug that could help them beat cancer; they
received one that contained starch, salts, cleaning solvents and
other chemicals with none of the cancer-fighting ingredients
needed to treat the disease.
With current headlines and the potential for abuse from ille-
gitimate online pharmacies, I introduced the Online Pharmacy