Online pharmacies worldwide

 Not really a day passes when our email inboxes do not fill with advertisements for prescription drugs. Several emails promise to deliver drugs of most classes by overnight courier with no prescription. While there are legitimate online pharmacies, and the practice of telemedicine or cyber-medicine is gaining acceptance, this change in how medicine has been practiced is rocking the foundations of the medical establishment. Being able to consult a doctor online, and obtain prescription drugs delivered to your doorstep by UPS has broad social and legal implications. The Internet facilitates making drugs open to those who may not be able to afford to cover US prices, are embarrassed to see a doctor face-to-face, or are experiencing pain, the treating which puts most doctors in direct conflict with the 'war on drugs' but on another hand there is the question whether these pharmacies make drugs open to recreational drug users minus the oversight of an authorized medical Online pharmacies worldwide.

The Dependence on Alternatives

Medical care in the US has reached a spot where it is expensive and impersonal that has caused the consumer to become generally unsatisfied with the medical establishment as a whole. Examples range from the huge differences between the cost of drugs in the US and Canada, long wait times in US pharmacies, and poor service in general. Perhaps realizing this, US customs generally seems to tolerate the an incredible number of Americans that visit Canada each year to purchase their medications, when it comes to most part, these 'drug buyers' are elderly American's that can't spend the money for high cost of filling their prescriptions in the US.

As opposed to to travel to Canada or Mexico an incredible number of Americans are now embracing the Internet for both their medical needs. Telemedicine (or cyber medicine) provides consumers with the capability to both consult with a doctor online and order drugs on the Internet at discounted prices. It has resulted in consumers embracing online pharmacies because of their medical needs, and in particular pharmacies with a relationships with a physician, which allow the consumer to fully bypass the standard brick and mortar pharmacies, with the added good thing about having their physician act as an intermediary between the consumer and the pharmacy. According to Johnson (2005) that is as a result of consumers becoming very dissatisfied when it comes to dealing with both brick and mortar pharmacies and medical practitioners. As Johnson, notes, "Consumers are more prone to know the name of the hairdresser than their pharmacist." When Johnson (2005) rated the many professions within the medical care system, he found that pharmacists had the best interaction making use of their patients than did any group. Today, as a result of this "consumers are buying 25.5 percent of the prescriptions online, against 13.5 percent of which are found at a stone and mortar pharmacy" (Johnson 2005).

Drugs and Society

What's brought so much awareness of online pharmacies is that it is possible to obtain pretty much any drug with no prescription online. Several prescriptions are for legitimate purposes purchased via an online pharmacy because the client is too embarrassed to see the physician and for other reasons including the unavailability of FDA approved drugs to the consumer. These drugs may include steroids that because of the misuse and being classed as a classed a group three drugs, are seldom prescribed by physicians. These drugs have a useful purpose to those experiencing any wasting disease such as for instance AIDS, they also may play a role in ant-aging (FDA, 2004).

The Doctor Patient Relationship

Today a stop by at a doctor is generally brief, a lot of the triage it is performed with a nurse or perhaps a nurse practitioner with the physician only dropping in for a few minutes, if at all. Oftentimes the patient sometimes appears with a nurse practitioner. One of many arguments against telemedicine or perhaps a better term is cyber-medicine, is that the physician does not have a real relationship with the patients and thus is in no position to make a diagnosis, and thus can not legally prescribe drugs.

Ironically when one compares the task up this 1 needs to go to consult having an online physicians and compares this to a face-to-face visit with a stone and mortar doctor, one finds that the online physician, in many cases, includes a better comprehension of the patient's medical condition than does the physician who meets face-to-face with the patient. Typically before an on-line a doctor prescribes any type of medication they insist on a full blood workup they may also require this 1 has additional tests performed, for example.

The AMA, the us government, and various states claim, however, that it is illegal for a doctor to prescribe drugs with no valid doctor-patient relationship. While there are no laws at present that outlaw online pharmacies, various states have enacted legislation, or are in the act of enacting legislation to prohibit a doctor from prescribing drugs to an individual they have not seen face to face. Some states also require that the physician that prescribes the drugs be licensed inside their state. This alone could hamper the development of cyber-medicine. According to William Hubbard (2004), FDA associate commissioner "The Food and Drug Administration says it is giving states first crack at legal action, though it will step in when states do not act" (FDA, 2004).

Internet Pharmacies

The reason that email boxes around the united states fill with offers to produce drugs of all sorts, at reduced prices, without prescriptions, and more is really because people buy them since the billions of dollars the drug companies are making each year attest to. The Internet is among the most drug store of preference for many.

Categories of Internet Pharmacies

Internet pharmacies are generally acknowledged to be comprised of these five categories:

Internet pharmacies can be divided up into five different categories, as follows:

Licensed online pharmacies with a no medical affiliation.

Licensed online pharmacies with a medical affiliation

No record online pharmacies (NRP)

International online pharmacies (IOP)

Licensed compounding pharmacies

The licensed online pharmacies with a no medical affiliation are needless to say Drugstore.com, CVV, and others. All of them demand a prescription from an authorized doctor that the patient has a doctor patient relationship with. The prescription can be called in by the doctor.

The licensed online pharmacies with a medical affiliation often rely on a broker. The broker collects your medical information, and then assigns your case to 1 of the networked physicians. Several networked physicians are prepared to prescribe pain killers as they believe that it is only through the use of these drugs that many people can live a harmonious life.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) Committee on aging held in June 2004 found that "Unlicensed international pharmacies do not demand a prescription, and are generally located off shore." No prescription pharmacies is found all around the world. Several sites have come under controversy as in some cases all it requires to possess that prescription delivered for you by next day air, is always to fill in a questionnaire online.

A study conducted by Henkle in 2002 to ascertain how easy it is always to obtain drugs on the Internet found that "37 of the 46" pharmacy required a prescription from an authorized doctor. The emphasis was on the prescription and not on the doctor. Henkle (2002) actually notes that some sites offered to recommend a doctor." Henkle (2002) surely could obtain prescription drugs from nine sites outside the US during the analysis, with no prescription.

Online pharmacies with a doctor affiliation

You will find numerous online pharmacies, with a medical affiliation is that take great pain to differentiate themselves form unlicensed overseas pharmacies. These pharmacies, stress they are "American based companies that provides consumer's quick access to FDA approved online prescriptions on the Internet and are quick to indicate that "An on line consultation can be just as relevant as an in-person consultation." It's interesting to note that a number of these online pharmacies also point out that "While they are committed to making usage of online prescriptions easier, they feel that the Internet can not replace the significance of regular doctor visits to fully evaluate your health and any medical conditions." Several online pharmacy sites also makes a wealth of drug information on its website that enables the consumer to educate themselves on drugs that may have been prescribed. The Internet has for all intensive purposes is quickly replacing the brick and mortar base physician as a patient's primary medical care provider.

A sales pitch, needless to say, or could it be? A lot of the legitimate online pharmacies ensure which they adhere to state and federal regulation. The doctors are licensed in most 50 states and their pharmacies are too. These legitimate Internet pharmacies cater to the ones that are buying better price; for a few it comes down to making the option of eating cat food on crackers in order to afford their medications due to the high US drug prices. In other cases patients resort to cyber-medicine to steer clear of the embarrassment of experiencing to manage a physician or pharmacy that could be judgmental. Several online pharmacies will arrange a consult with an authorized, medical doctor over the phone and will likely then fill the Online pharmacies worldwide.