A top Canadian on-line drug company advises patients how to identify fake online pharmacies.
A top Canadian on-line drug company advises patients how to identify fake online pharmacies.
Buying drugs online over the internet saves a lot of time, money and time spent on travelling to the local pharmacy. In addition, it gives many patients, who have embarrassing illnesses and need to buy specific medicine, the privacy of online purchase. Although there are many legitimate online pharmacies operating over the internet, there are also countless fraudulent ones posing as “online pharmacies”. These fake online pharmacies can charge patients’ credit cards without filling orders, provide them with useless, wrongly labeled or incorrect medicine or even sell the patients’ personal information to other fraudulent users. Most of the fake online pharmacy sites offer anti-impotence drugs such as Viagra and Cialis, or opioid painkillers such as Vicodin or Oxycontin. A report in the journal Clinical Therapeutics found that U.S. consumers face a risk of getting fake drugs because of the rising internet sales of drugs, projected to reach $75 billion by 2010. Therefore it is not surprising that patients are getting ever wary of purchasing their medicine online over the internet.
Big Mountain Drugs, a leading Canadian online pharmacy advises patients in Canada and worldwide to do their research first before purchasing drugs from an online pharmacy to find out if it is a legitimate one first. The company says that signs of an illegitimate or fake online pharmacy are as follows:
1. If the online pharmacy offers prescription medication without a prescription
2. If the online pharmacy’s website does not provide full contact details, such as the phone and fax numbers of the company
3. If the online pharmacy does not have a licensed pharmacist to answer questions about medications
4. If the online pharmacy offers to sell narcotics or other controlled substances
5. The online pharmacy’s website does not use up-to-date encryption technology such as McAfee Secure and GeoTrust to secure your personal and financial information
6. If the online pharmacy offers to ship additional medication or narcotics as a bonus to the order made.
7. If the online pharmacy is not certified by local pharmacy regulatory institutions.
In contrast, Big Mountain Drugs says that its website is a good example of a very legitimate and safe online pharmacy for all to order their medication without worry. The company will ask the customer for their current prescription, it has its address and phone number displayed on their website, does not offer controlled substances online or offer bonus medication with orders, offers a full range of prescription and over the counter medicines and uses secure technology by using GeoTrust to protect customer’s personal and financial information. Also customers’ prescriptions are filled by an established and fully licensed Canadian pharmacy staffed by certified pharmacists. The company is certified by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) and verified by PharmacyChecker which checks the credentials of Canadian online pharmacies and allows consumers to check and compare drug prices and Canadian pharmacy reviews.