Many Americans these days are having a tough time keeping up with their prescription drug bill. Some have hit the doughnut hole in their prescription coverage, while others have never been able to afford coverage to start with. Due to insurance coverage picking up the tab on our prescriptions drugs, we have never really stopped to think about why the price of our medications is much higher than anywhere else in the world. I have done a little research and found that it is not as much of a safety issue as the government would have you believe, but more of a financial issue.

The government would like you to believe that prescription medications from anywhere other than the United States are not safe, no matter where they are from. This is simply not true. Many other countries such as Canada and Great Britain have just as strict of safety regulations and high quality standards for their medications, the only difference is they pay much less for theirs.

The reason Canadians can afford their medications is because their government imposes price controls on their medications. This means that drug companies cannot charge more for a particular drug than the market dictates is fair. Whereas here in America, we allow drug companies have patents and periods of market exclusivity which allow drug companies to charge as much as they want for a particular drug.

The funny thing is, even though the government tries to maintain that safety is the reason that drug importation is frowned upon, even though there are many government programs that encourage purchasing drugs from foreign countries. The Senate voted 62 to 28 to allow Americans to buy drugs from Canada and Europe. The truth is drugs from overseas and Canada are not of any lesser quality, but American drug companies pay the government well to keep a monopoly in the American prescription drug market. It turns out the government is not as concerned about your safety, as they are about making money.

Don’t allow the government to scare you away from saving money on your prescription medication. Do your research and keep your money in your pocket. Order your medications from proven, safe, online pharmacies found only here at
NoPrescriptioneed.com.

Don’t waste any more time, sign up today.

A new weight loss drug is up for FDA approval and is looking to buck the recent trend of harsh weight loss medications.

The new drug Qnexa, which is a combination of the drugs lorcaserin and Contrave is looking to provide effective weight-loss without the dangerous side effects that have hampered other weight loss drugs like fen-phen and Meridia. Fen-phen was pulled from the off the shelves in 1997 when it was linked to a thickening of the heart valve.

Dr. Ken Fujioka, director of the Scripps Clinic Center for Weight Management in San Diego said, “It’s shown a 10 to 15 percent weight-loss in patients, which is very impressive.”

If the side effects prove to be minimal, this could end up being a great drug to help many who suffer from obesity reclaim there lives. As for now, the only FDA approved weight loss drug is over the counter Alli.

In searching for an online pharmacy you can trust, you’ve no doubt come across various seals and certifications on Web sites. Why are such seals important?  And how do you know whether they are legitimate?

When it comes to Canadian pharmacies, a seal isn’t technically necessary for a pharmacy to be above board.  All the pharmacy needs is the approval of its provincial government, which inspects pharmacies and awards the legitimate ones with licenses.  You can generally verify that a pharmacy has a license by visiting the appropriate Canadian government Web site.

However, to make things easier for you, a number of verification authorities have emerged that do this work for you.  Here is an overview of these verification authorities:

PharmacyChecker.com.  PharmacyChecker.com is the verification authority that Google uses in determining what pharmacies are allowed to advertise on its network.  PharmacyChecker ensures that a pharmacy Web site dispenses through a licensed pharmacy; that it has a valid address and phone number on its site; that it protects the privacy of your personal medical information; and that it also protects your financial information.  

CIPA.  The Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) was formed in 2002 to represent licensed Canadian pharmacies that sell prescription drugs to Americans by mail order. CIPA is the only national association of international pharmacies in Canada. CIPA members are licensed brick and mortar pharmacies that fill prescriptions for both Canadian and American patients.  CIPA has testified before the U.S. Congress and state legislatures to promote legalizing the cross-border trade and to address safety issues.

MIPA.   The Manitoba International Pharmacists Association (MIPA) is a professional association of licensed pharmacists, pharmacy students, and others dedicated to the provision of safe and affordable distance care for the improvement of health and well being of individuals of all ages from around the world. MIPA offers accreditation to licensed mail-order and Internet pharmacies based in the Canadian province of Manitoba.

All of these organizations do a wonderful job, and a Canadian pharmacy Web site that legitimately carries one of their seals is worthy of your patronage.

Unfortunately, many scam pharmacies, such as no prescription pharmacies, carry seals fraudulently, or create fake seals from non-existent verification organizations.

Here’s an example of a legitimate CIPA seal (top) and a fake seal (bottom):

 
You can be assured that all Canadian pharmacies in our network have been verified by PharmacyChecker as well as CIPA and/or MIPA.  We’ll show you how to confirm the legitimacy and license of every pharmacy in our network.

Once you join us, you’ll never have to worry about your safety when ordering online again.

Don’t take chances — join today!

The FBI recently published an excellent article on its Web site on the topic of Internet pharmacy safety. Here it is in its entirety:

DON’T PUT YOUR HEALTH
In the Hands of Crooks

It couldn’t be easier—ordering prescription drugs online with a few clicks of the mouse and having them delivered right to your door, without ever having to see a doctor.

But is it safe? Is it legal?

Often not. And you need to know the risks.

Yes, there are plenty of legitimate U.S. pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies (including online ones) that follow all the laws and regulations and put public safety first.

But there are many that don’t—they are just out to make a fast buck at your expense. These shady businesses fill orders without prescriptions. They pay doctors just to take a quick glance at your brief medical questionnaire. They don’t know if you are drug-addicted, underage, or have another condition that their medications could make worse. And they don’t care.

Worse yet, the products they peddle are questionable, at best. The drugs may be way past their expiration date. They may be counterfeit, mislabeled, adulterated, or contaminated. And they may well be made from suspect raw materials in underground laboratories in the U.S. and abroad, far from the safety-conscious eyes of the Food and Drug Administration.

Part of the problem is that these illegal pharmacies are all over the Internet. More than 80,000 “portal” websites currently sell ad space for these medications and link to one of more than 1,400 “anchor” websites that allow customers to place orders through illegal pharmacies. You don’t even have to search for these offers—they often come straight to your inbox as e-mail spam, enticing you with a cornucopia of drugs on the cheap.

Are there ways to tell whether an online pharmacy is legal? Definitely, and here’s what to look for. Legitimate pharmacies:

• Require a prescription from a licensed doctor, usually by mail (if they accept a fax copy, they will always call your doctor to verify the prescription);
• Make you submit a detailed medical history;
• Clearly state their payment, privacy, and shipping fees on their sites; and
• Use secure or encrypted website connections for transactions.

Many legitimate online pharmacies are also certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy—check its website for a listing. Bear in mind, some of the larger Internet pharmacies may not be certified because of their already well-recognized names.

To help protect you, the FBI has made Internet pharmacy fraud one of its top health care fraud priorities. We work—and train—with federal investigators from our partner agencies. We also work closely with state and local law enforcement, and, because many illegal online pharmacies have global connections, we often coordinate with our overseas partners.

Just one example of a major crackdown: in August 2007, a San Diego grand jury handed down a 313-count indictment against 18 people, charging them with operating an illegal online pharmacy that netted more than $126 million over a two-year period. Incredibly, this network—which included everyone from doctors and druggists to credit card processors and affiliated websites that advertised the illegal wares—allegedly received over a million Internet orders from customers in all 50 states.

Our bottom-line advice: do your homework and steer clear of illegal Internet pharmacies, even if the prices are tempting. It’s your health, after all.

The one important caveat we would add is that while the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy is an excellent resource for verifying U.S. pharmacies, it does not certify Canadian pharmacies.

To identify legitimate, licensed Canadian pharmacies, the most respected verification sources are the Canadian International Pharmacy Association and PharmacyChecker.com. PharmacyChecker is the verification authority used by Google.

Amy Pain seemed to have everything going for her. Beautiful. Intelligent. Only 22. The daughter of a highly respected archdeacon of the Anglican Church in Wales.

Amy died after an accidental overdose of prescription drugs she had bought from a no-prescription pharmacy for insomnia, anxiety and stomach aches.

Her archdeacon father found the girl dead in her bed last October. Last week during an official inquest, coroner David Bowen cited the ease with which drugs could be purchased online without a prescription as a contributing factor in Amy’s death.

Read more about Amy’s story, and the larger problems of no-prescription pharmacies in the U.K., here.

The TV news report should serve as a warning to all of us.

Many rogue online pharmacies aren’t technically “no prescription” pharmacies — because they do have physicians on hand who write prescriptions for patients based on what are called “remote consultations.”

These online consultation pharmacies work with doctors who review a patient’s self-reported medical history — generally based on the completion of an online questionnaire — and then write a prescription in response to the patient’s request. U.S. states have different laws on what constitutes a valid doctor-patient consultation. However, as PharmacyChecker.com reports:

The American Medical Association and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have issued statements asserting that remote consultations are a substandard medical practice when there is no prior doctor-patient relationship, one established by an in-person physical exam.

No Prescription Needed does not permit online consultation pharmacies to be members of our network. While the standards of these pharmacies are higher, on the whole, than those of pharmacies that require no prescription at all, they still do not meet the safety standards that you deserve — and should demand — as a patient.

As has been reported by the Washington Post and others, online consultation pharmacies have a tendency to attract doctors with substance abuse problems, a history of malpractice, and a variety of financial woes.

The Post checked the background of prescribing physicians and found the following:

A Colorado doctor had a history of alcohol abuse. An Arkansas doctor was being treated for bipolar disorder and drug dependency. A Florida doctor had twice been cited for providing inadequate care to elderly patients, one of whom died. A Texas doctor was under investigation by the FBI for suspected Medicare fraud and later committed suicide. A California doctor was disciplined for operating under a fictitious name. A North Carolina doctor had held 22 jobs in five years.

Pharmacy site operators use Web sites like this one to recruit doctors in need of cash.

Don’t be fooled by a pharmacy that claims to distribute valid prescriptions over the Web. The only legitimate prescription is one your doctor writes for you after an in-person consultation.

One in four British doctors say they have treated patients for side effects produced by drugs purchased from rogue online pharmacies, such as no-prescription pharmacies, the U.K.’s Telegraph reported last week.

Physicians reported seeing patients who had experienced problems after buying a wide variety of drugs online, including medication for anxiety, insomnia and weight loss. Doctors also said they had seen patients who had side effects after buying fraudulent versions of Viagra or other sexual impotence medications.

More than 400 physicians responded to the survey by Britain’s GP Magazine.

Concluded Dr. Bill Beeby, prescribing lead for the British Medical Association’s GPs committee:

When it comes to buying drugs on the internet, it is a minefield. People just don’t know what they’d be getting.

Don’t step into the minefield of no-prescription pharmacies. It’s not worth the risk.

By signing up with No Prescription Needed, you can be sure the medications you order come from properly licensed Canadian pharmacies — so you can save while also staying safe.

Join now!

As you know, we are the first to write about the dangers of no-prescription pharmacies on this blog, and the first to tell you that most online pharmacies are unlicensed and potentially unsafe — so you have to be careful. That’s why we created this site.

But the reality is, the vast majority of prescription drug abuse in this country is not facilitated through online pharmacies. Despite all the media hype (fueled by Big Pharma PR firms) linking teen prescription drug abuse to online pharmacies, the data clearly shows that teen abusers in most cases are taking these medications directly from their parents’ medicine cabinets.

As the Los Angeles Times has reported:

Among teens and young adults 12 to 25, one-third of those who use illicit drugs say they recently have abused prescription drugs — including painkillers, tranquilizers and stimulants …

More than half who reported they had recently taken prescription drugs for nonmedical uses said they got the drugs from a friend or relative for free, and almost 20% got them from a physician. About 1 in 10 who took prescription pain relievers said they bought or stole them from a friend or relative…

Fewer than 5% told interviewers that they had had to resort to a drug-dealing stranger to acquire prescription drugs, or even to log onto an Internet site selling prescription drugs.

Did you catch that? That’s less than 5 percent of teens who are buying drugs online — way less.

The Green Bay, Wisconsin, paper confirms that the biggest cause of teen prescription drug abuse is lack of parental supervision:

Local law enforcement, education and medical officials are increasingly worried about the prescription drug abuse trend — called “pharming” — among young teens. Teens in middle school are stealing, distributing and consuming prescription drugs with alcohol, authorities say…

At some pharming parties, kids will bring whatever pills they can get their hands on — painkillers, anti-anxieties, sedatives, tranquilizers — and mix them into a drug cocktail with alcohol… Kids in middle school were sticking pills in their pens and selling the pens for $5 each, said Anne Tobias-Becker, social worker and coordinator for the district…

The prevention strategy for the future aims at the source of the drugs, which tends to be the freely accessible medicine cabinets of friends and family. “The message to take home is people need to lock up their drugs,” [Dr. Jane] Whitman said. “You lock up your guns, you should lock up the pills.”

We normally write about online pharmacy scams and safety on this blog. But the fact is, with the FDA so understaffed and underfunded in recent years, there have also been safety issues with the drugs you pick up from your corner Walmart.

We at NPN love generic drugs because they compete with overpriced brand-name drugs, forcing prices down. That’s why Walmart (and other discount retailers) can sell certain generic drugs for as little as $10 for a 90-day supply.

Teva Pharmaceuticals, a leading generic drug manufacturer, touts the claim that generic drugs are just as good as brand-name drugs in its new ad campaign:

We would love to agree with Teva. But we’re afraid it’s just not true in all cases.

The problem is that the FDA has not done its part here. The agency has not inspected the plants of generic drug makers to the extent that they should. As the People’s Pharmacy reports:

There … have been numerous recalls of generic drugs. Despite frequent assurances that such copycat medications are identical to their brand-name counterparts, scores of products have been recalled.

Last fall, the FDA banned a huge Indian pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy, from bringing 30 different generic drugs into the U.S. Nothing more specific than “manufacturing violations” was cited. Nevertheless, Ranbaxy’s generic versions of drugs such as the cholesterol-lowering medicine simvastatin or the antibiotic ciprofloxacin were not allowed into the U.S.

More recently, a generic manufacturer called ETHEX, a division of KV Pharmaceutical, withdrew 60 generic drugs from the market. This might be just the tip of an iceberg. Hundreds of people have been complaining to their physicians and online that their generic drugs are not performing as expected. No one knows how big a problem this may be.

Fortunately, there is a way to purchase brand name drugs for less — sometimes for as little as the generic costs at your neighborhood Walmart. That’s by buying them at a licensed Canadian pharmacy.

Join us today!