Federal law prohibits consumers from buying controlled prescription drugs
without a valid prescription from a licensed physician. But a new study
shows that hundreds of online drug stores are skirting the laws by offering
sham consultations with 'cyber doctors' who are contributing hugely
to the epidemic of prescription drug addiction in this country.
A report titled "You've Got Drugs!", from the National Center
on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), details
how hundreds of Internet pharmacies have customers complete online questionnaires,
or participate in virtual meetings with doctors employed by the sites,
to try to get around the law.
Even worse, the study found that 85 percent of the nearly 400 web sites
selling prescription drugs don't even bother with doctors' prescriptions
- even bogus ones. Forty-two percent of them say no prescription is required,
45 percent offer 'online consultations', and 13 percent don't
mention prescriptions at all. The practice is paving a super-highway to
prescription drug addiction for thousands of Americans of all ages - even
children can order up narcotics, speed or potent psychiatric drugs.
These Internet consultations are purely symbolic, and offer no protection
to the consumer. "They're sham consultations," said CASA
Chairman and President Joseph A. Califano, Jr. "They ask you a few
medical questions and then say you need this drug."
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), prescriptions
written by these 'cyber doctors' are not legitimate under the
law. At a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee last month looking
into the problem of the Internet and prescription drug addiction, DEA
Deputy Assistant Administrator Joseph Rannazzisi said most illegal pharmacies
are run by people with no medical or pharmaceutical training, but who
find doctors willing to approve prescriptions in exchange for $10 to $25.
Some of these physicians authorize hundreds of online prescriptions a
day, representing untold numbers of people suffering from prescription
drug addiction.
But Rannazzisi told the House that the proliferation of rogue Internet
pharmacies has created new legal challenges, because of the complex involvement
of web site operators, medical practitioners and pharmacists in these
online consultations.
"This process is designed to elicit what drug the customer wants
and what the method of payment will be," Rannazzisi said, "rather
than diagnosing a health problem and establishing a sound course of medical
treatment."
Prescription drug addiction has surpassed traditional illicit street drugs
in its viral spread throughout all sectors of the population. The DEA
official described the Internet as the perfect medium for drug trafficking
organizations. "It connects individuals from anywhere in the globe,
at any time," he said. "It provides anonymity, and can be deployed
from almost anywhere with very little formal training."
Part of the the CASA study involved searching for typical prescription
drug terms in Internet search engines, where hundreds of unlicensed pharmacies
advertise. CASA's Califano, an outspoken proponent of action to combat
the spread of prescription drug addiction, said it should be illegal for
search engines to list pharmacies that have not been certified.
But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. In an effort to control
prescription drug addiction and widespread threat to health, at least
8 states already require regulation of online prescription drug sales,
and other states are considering similar legislation.
Meanwhile, the Senate passed a bill this past April prohibiting online
distribution, dispensing and delivery of controlled substances without
a prescription from a doctor who has personally seen the patient. Now
awaiting House approval, the bill also requires online pharmacies to be
federally certified.
Although the bill should go a long way towards reducing the contribution
of online drug stores to prescription drug addiction, the first vital
step towards recovery for those trapped by prescription drug addiction is a
medical drug detox.
