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are dangerous experts say |
| A study to be published in the December 1999 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine (available on the internet at http://www.acponline.org/journals/annals/05oct99/bloom.htm ), addresses the growing dangerous practice of purchasing prescription drugs through the internet. The study conducted by Bernard S. Bloom, PhD, and Ronald C. Iannacone, BS at the Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, not only addresses the danger of purchasing drugs over the Internet but also discussed the economic disadvantage for consumers to do so. The conclusions of the study showed that prescription drugs purchased online were on average more expensive that those purchased in traditional ways. The study also showed that many sites that sold such drugs had no prescription requirements or relaxed requirements that amounted to not much more than and online questionnaire. The most popular drugs sold online are Viagra, Propecia, Prozac, weight loss pills, birth control pills, and smoking cessation pills. One concern expressed by the authors of the study was the quality of these medications. Since several of the sites were from outside North America, the authors suggested that the strength or purity of the medications could be compromised. Part of the rise in drug sales on the Internet could well be due to the increase in advertising geared directly to consumers by the major drug companies. In an article published in the September 25th 1999 British Medical Journal, it is reported that U.S. drug companies spend more than one billion dollars per year on advertising aimed directly to the public. This advertising and the easy availability of drugs on the Internet may account for the dramatic rise in drug sales over the last several years. The January 7, 1999 New England Journal of Medicine reported that prescription drug usage increased by 14.1 percent in 1997 alone. These daunting figures should be tempered by a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association addressing the subject of unintended side-effects of properly prescribed, properly administered medications. The authors of this article estimate deaths from properly prescribed medications to exceed 106,000 deaths per year. With these numbers so high one can only speculate with concern what the increase in death rate will be from self medication over the Internet. |
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US Federal scrutiny |
| As reported on December 28th, 1999 on MSNBC, the US Federal government is pushing for new unprecedented powers to “crack down” on web sites dispensing drugs. The proposed measures include requiring the US Food and Drug Administration to verify the legitimacy of web site pharmacies. The concerns are with those sites selling drugs without a valid prescription, and with those sites selling drugs not legally available in the United States. The proposed law changes would require sites to demonstrate compliance with state and federal laws on pharmaceuticals before being allowed to operate. |
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increasing by drug companies |
| In a March 19, 2001 issue of the American Medical News appeared an article that dealt with the changes in MD's practices due to drug companies increased advertising of prescription drugs directly to the consumers. For decades the drug industry predominantly spent all advertising efforts on getting doctors to prescribe their products. However, as of the last several years the drug companies have spent billions of dollars advertising to consumers in an attempt to get consumers to request certain drugs from doctors. According to the article, in 1999, pharmaceutical companies spent about $1.8 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising. This represented an increase in spending of more than 1,000% since 1993. This was largely fueled by a boom in television advertising, which increased by more than 4,000% in that period. The numbers represent spending in thousands. ............TV ads..........Print ads According to the National Institute for Health Care Management, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of America's health care system, the most successfully promoted prescription drugs represent five categories: antidepressants, cholesterol-lowering agents, gastric acid reducers, oral antihistamines and antihypertensives. |
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| Under the possible heading of “it would be funny if not true”, is a new report in the July 19, 1999 American Medical News reporting on strong action from the AMA against medical doctors prescribing drugs over the Internet. At the AMA annual meeting, the organization came out strong and called for state medical societies, governing regulatory boards and licensing boards to investigate and prosecute doctors who dispense pills to patients without ever examining them. AMA trustee Donald Palmisano, MD said, “It is inappropriate and it puts patients at great risk.” The most common drug prescribed over the internet presently is Viagra. Sites pushing this drug reportedly have catchy names like doctorasap.com and get-it-on.com . On these sites nothing more than an on-line questionnaire is need to receive the prescription. Although Viagra leads the way in on-line prescriptions other drugs that are also becoming popular include Propecia, Proscar, and Claritin. The AMA report does not condemn all on-line prescribing but favors ways to protect and enhance what they termed legitimate electronic prescribing. |
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