The American Cancer Society does not have an official policy on buying drugs online or in other countries, but you might find this information helpful.
Safety first
Buying prescription drugs online may save you about 20% to 30%, but in most cases, there is no way to guarantee the product’s safety. Counterfeit drugs are everywhere. If you buy medical products online, be aware that:
- Buying medicines from an illegal Web site puts you at risk. You may get a tainted or fake product, the wrong product, an incorrect dose, or no product at all. (Read on to learn how to find trustworthy Web sites.)
- Taking an unsafe medicine puts you at risk for harmful drug interactions and other serious health outcomes. When illegal Web sites sell drugs that are not what they are supposed to be, you don’t know what you are taking. This means there is no way to avoid the risk of serious drug interactions.
- Getting a prescription drug by filling out a questionnaire without seeing a doctor can be very risky to your health. When you fill out a questionnaire, the answers often do not give a health care professional enough information to decide a drug is right for you, safe for you to use, whether another treatment may be better, or if you have an underlying medical condition that may make using that drug harmful to you. The American Medical Association has found that this practice is generally below the standard for medical care – it is best to see a doctor.
What to look for in an online pharmacy
Consider these tips for finding a trustworthy pharmacy when buying health products online:
- Contact the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (at www.nabp.net or 847-391-4406) to find out if a Web site is a licensed pharmacy in good standing. They also have a special section with information about buying drugs online, counterfeit drugs, and Web sites to avoid.
- Another way to check on a Web site is to look on the site for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites Seal™, also known a VIPPS® Seal.
- Look for easy-to-find and easy-to-understand privacy and security policies. Don’t give out personal information (your social security number, date of birth, credit card number, or health history) unless you are sure that the site will protect them. Make sure the site will not share your information with others without your permission.
What to avoid in online pharmacies
- Don’t buy from sites that offer to do any of these things:
- a prescription drug for the first time without a physical exam
- a prescription drug without a prescription
- drugs not approved by FDA
- Avoid sites that do not identify with whom you are dealing. This includes those that send “spam” emails to strangers to advertise their drugs.
- Don’t buy from sites that do not provide a US address and phone number to contact if there’s a problem. Look at the “Contact Us” page on the Web site to find this before you place an order.
- Don’t do business with sites that do not have a registered pharmacist to answer questions.
Other tips for safer purchases from online pharmacies
- It is not legal to import drugs bought from foreign Web sites. The risks are greater, and very little can be done if you get ripped off. And be aware that some Web sites do not tell the truth about which country they ship from. Many Web sites that have claimed to be Canadian, for instance, turn out not to be in Canada. The drugs were not made in Canada, either.
- Talk to your health care professional before using any medicines for the first time.
- See the “To learn more” section for information from the US Food and Drug Administration on how to safely order drugs online.
Fraud alert
There are Web sites that use fraud to get people looking for cheaper drugs to buy other things, like “natural cures,” secret remedies, and herbs. They often set up outside the United States, which makes it hard for US authorities to track them down despite the fact that they violate US laws and safety regulations:
- Beware of sites that advertise a “new cure” for a serious illness or a quick cure-all for a wide range of illnesses.
- Be careful of sites that use pictures and impressive-sounding words to hide their lack of good science and careful studies.
- Avoid sites that claim the government, the medical profession, or research scientists have worked together to keep people from finding out about or using a product.
- Steer clear of sites that offer stories claiming amazing results as the main proof that their product works. These stories are usually impossible to verify; and even if they are true, they do not mean that the product caused the good outcome.
For more information about products that are not part of mainstream health care, see our document called Complementary and Alternative Methods for Cancer Management. To check out claims of new cancer treatments or cures, see Learning About New Cancer Treatments. This document explains the process that new treatments must go through before they are approved for general use.
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