Google to Face Huge Fines for Illegal Pharmacy Ads?
Recently, we have been reporting on research published in the respected scientific journal, Health Affairs, which found that Americans who have the most access to the Internet are much more likely to be addicted to prescription pills than their peers who have less access. The problem is compounded by the bewildering variety of drug sites offering prescription painkiller—often counterfeit or expired medications—without benefit of a valid doctor’s prescription.
Now comes a reminder that the biggest online pill pusher of all may turn out to be, that’s right—Google. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Google and the U.S. government were close to settling a criminal investigation into Google’s practice of taking paid ads from online pharmacies that violate U.S. law.
In what the Wall Street Journal called a “cryptic regulatory filing,” Google, otherwise known as Page Number One on the Internet, has set aside a whopping $500 million as a reserve against a possible settlement with the Justice Department. Trying to pry details of the alleged settlement out of Google is like asking them for their page rank algorithm; in other words, a Google spokesperson declined comment.
Search engines are criminally liable if they profit from illegal activities, previous courts have found. And Google has been here before, along with Microsoft and Yahoo, when the three companies agreed to pay out $31 million in fines for accepting ads from illegal online gambling sites in 2007. The drug ads dilemma has been long and odd, as Google has struggled to formulate and reformulate policies that skirt the edge of grey-market drug profiteering.
In 2003, the Journal reports, the company banned advertising for U.S. companies offering Vicodin and Viagra without prescriptions. But the Justice Department has been attempting a furious crackdown on illegal online pharmacies in the wake of media reports linking Internet access to illegal drug use. The unspoken part of the proceedings–the thing that has investors truly nervous– was well summarized in the New York Times on Friday by Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University: “For investors, I think they just got a little bit of a jolt that maybe Google’s profits are due to things they can’t ultimately stand behind.”
Prescription Drug Abuse Increasing with Internet Use
The growing use of high-speed internet is contributing to an increase in prescription drug abuse in the United States. The joint study from Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California (USC), and published online in journal Health Affairs, found that the expansion of high-speed internet between 2000 and 2007 saw a large increase in admissions for treatment for prescription drug abuse.
“We know we face a growing problem with prescription drug abuse in the United States. One need only look at statistics for college campuses, where prescription drugs are fast replacing illegal substances, to see the magnitude of the problem,” explained senior author Dana Goldman.
In fact, prescription drugs are “fast replacing” illegal substances on college campuses around the U.S. according to Goldman.
You’ve seen them, the proliferation of online pharmacies sending you email, advertising all over the internet. You may have even ordered from one legitimately, with a prescription. But did you really need it? Could you have gotten those drugs without a doctor’s order? According to a 2008 study, the answer is a resounding “YES.” In fact it is estimated that up to 85 percent of websites that market medications over the internet are selling extremely addictive drugs without requiring prescriptions for their purchase.
The 2008 study, performed by a group of Columbia University researchers, found that powerful pain medications such as morphine and oxycodone, as well as amphetamine stimulants and depressants like Xanax and Valium can easily be purchased online. Due to their strong potential for addiction and the likelihood of abusive use, such drugs are typed as controlled substances and regulated by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), but somehow that doesn’t seem to matter much.
Soaring Prices Contribute to Online Sales
The soaring price of brand name drugs in the United States has become so prohibitive that a growing number of Americans, out of financial necessity, are turning to the internet and its and foreign suppliers for their brand name prescription needs. Unlike the Canada, the United States does not impose price controls on its pharmaceutical companies, and consequently the prices Americans pay for brand name drugs is often much higher than what Canadians, for example, or citizens of other countries that have drug price controls, pay for the same medications.
To save money, some people are turning to internet pharmacies, and there are hundreds of them; some offering drugs for as much as 80 percent off U.S. brand name prices. With almost 50 million uninsured Americans, these internet sites don’t lack for customers. Some operate from U.S. soil, others from foreign countries; almost all get their brand name drug supplies from foreign sources.
Counterfeit Medications Add to the Problem
Of additional concern with online pharmacies is the proliferation of counterfeit drugs being sold. Counterfeit drugs are manufactured with inactive, erroneous, or even harmful ingredients that are packaged and labeled just like the real thing, so that you think you are buying brand name drugs or their generic equivalent. The dangers of these counterfeit drugs range from lack of effectiveness to toxicity that can be detrimental to your health.
Trying to determine if a drug is real or counterfeit is no simple task. Possible signs that may indicate that a drug is counterfeit include very low pricing, low quality packaging, and misspelled labels. In addition, the medicines may have odd smells, tastes, or colors and may break apart easily. Only by having a chemical analysis done in a laboratory can one be truly sure of the integrity of these medications.
If you choose to buy drugs online, follow the tips from the FDA’s Buying Prescription Medicines Online Consumers Safety Guide. A safe website will have the following characteristics:
The site location is in the United States and licensed by the state board of pharmacy where the website is operating (check www.nabp.info for a list of state boards of pharmacy).
The site has a licensed pharmacist available to answer your questions.
The site requires a prescription from a health care professional licensed in the United States to write prescriptions for medicine.
The site will have a way for you to talk to a person if you have problems.
The site will have privacy and security policies that are easy-to-find and easy-to-understand. Never give any personal information (such as social security number, credit card, or medical or health history), unless you are sure the website will keep your information safe and private. Make sure that the site will not sell your information, unless you agree.
Viagra professional online pharmacy
Know Your Numbers gets online training module
The National Stroke Foundation’s successful pharmacy-based Know Your Numbers program kicks off again this week, and this year it features a new, online training element.
After relaunching the program in Queensland, NSW and Victoria yesterday, Kos Sclavos, national president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia said the addition of an IT platform would boost the efficiency of data collection and improve communication.