Getting Back to Basics: Use the Standard VIPPS Categories
When it comes to shopping, no retailer is as accessible to consumers as the Internet. With a few clicks of the mouse, this remarkable tool can connect you with almost anything you want—from rare collectables to inexpensive trinkets—and have it delivered to your doorstep. But it is a double edged-sword-the anonymity of the Internet allows the good and the bad to sell, including counterfeit drugs via online “pharmacies.” And, as my colleagues and I have warned, for prescription drugs, the Internet can be a prescription for disaster, since these drug pushers are anything but legitimate pharmacies.
Since the late 1990s, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) in its Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site (VIPPS) program have reviewed online drug sellers and placed them into two categories: recommended or not recommended. The "Recommended" sellers are legitimate online pharmacies. They are the 15 pharmacy Web sites that carry the VIPPS seal, have gone through rigorous assessment and inspection, and represent more than 12,000 actually verified pharmacies. The "Not Recommended Sites" are online drug sellers that do not appear to comply with state and federal laws, or NABP's patient safety and pharmacy practice standards—which indicates that they represent a greater risk of selling counterfeit drugs.
But recently, NABP began using a new category: "Reviewed Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites." Here, NABP reviews "public information" available for these online drug sellers and determine that they appear to or may comply with state and federal laws and NABP patient safety and online pharmacy practice standards.
This new "reviewed" category is not helpful. It is important to remember that these online drug sellers have not demonstrated compliance with the stringent set of criteria necessary for legitimate online pharmacies to qualify for VIPPS accreditation, and therefore could be distributing counterfeit drugs to buyers. Even NABP advises patients to use the "reviewed" sites with caution since the information needed to conclusively determine the legitimacy and legality of these sites isn't available.
That's why we at the Partnership for Safe Medicines continue to recommend that you only use full, "Recommended" VIPPS accreditation online pharmacies to avoid receiving counterfeit drugs.
Remember, you are the last barrier to harm. So keep visiting SafeMedicines.org to learn how to protect yourself and your family from contraband and counterfeit drugs.