“In 2017, nearly seven million Americans accessed care through telemedicine doctors, and that number is expected to grow exponentially.”
If certain requirements are met, buying prescription drugs online and getting them shipped via mail can be legal. These requirements range from those that you have to meet to those that the business from which your order must meet. Know the steps to make sure you buy a valid prescription from a legitimate online pharmacy.
1. Online Prescribers
You have undoubtedly seen ads and received emails claiming that you do not need a prescription to buy a brand-name drug. It’s a big mistake to order from such a pharmacy. The most important requirement for buying a prescription online is that you have a real prescription to give to the pharmacy. Under U.S. federal law, every pharmacy must be able to prove that you, as the consumer, have a partnership with the physician who provides the medication in order to sell you a prescription drug. The pharmacy must require a prescription to be signed by your doctor. Some pharmacies online will tell you that their “doctor” in-house can write you a prescription without seeing you personally. This is a direct breach of the law because there is no reason for the “doctor” to make a diagnosis. Even a detailed questionnaire offered by some online pharmacies does not fulfill even the most basic diagnostic competency standards. It’s a con, in short.
2. Doctors in telemedicine
That being said, telemedicine’s arrival is rapidly changing how we interpret the cycle of medical diagnosis. It has been inferred in the past that diagnoses can only be made through a patient’s physical examination. By conducting an “examination” on your laptop or Smartphone, doctors (many of whom are employed by health insurers) can make reasonable diagnoses with telemedicine. Like online “physicians” who are not qualified to practice electronic medicine, telemedicine doctors are board-certified professionals who are generally licensed by a government body. Medical practices have changed so dramatically that organizations such as the Federation of State Medical Boards endorse regulations that allow telemedicine doctors to write prescriptions as long as certain technical and medical criteria are met. That doesn’t say you should recommend something. Most doctors in telemedicine will not prescribe drugs that require an in-person examination, including Viagra and sleep aids.
Telemedicine doctors may write the most common types of prescriptions including:
- Antibiotics
- Anti-fungal
- Allergy medicines
- Oral contraceptive decongestant
- Nasal sprays
- High blood pressure medicines C
- Cholesterol-lowering medicines
3. Check whether you are purchasing legally.
- Is the pharmacy asking for a prescription?
You must provide a bona fide, doctor-signed prescription, as mentioned above. It is not enough to have a survey.
- Is the pharmacy licensed in its parent country?
Find the Board of Pharmacy for your state to determine its licensing. If it is not licensed there, or if you are unable to locate it, it may be offshore, located in another country.
- Do they offer an opportunity to talk to a pharmacist on the phone?
Having a toll-free number is not enough; you need to be able to talk to a pharmacist. Do not buy a medication from an internet pharmacist unless you call the phone number and talk to the pharmacist, even if you have to pose a dumb query (what you consider).
The aim is to verify whether workers have a bona fide pharmacist. You can legally buy medications from an online pharmacy once you are certain that the store is genuine and you have a valid prescription from your physician.
4. International online pharmacies.
Ordering prescription medications from any pharmacy outside the United States, like Canada, is prohibited for Americans. This is a rule enforced by the governing body of the U.S. The rule may be ignored and not followed under certain conditions.
The guidelines of the U.S. governing body for purchasing from overseas distributors state that a product may be sold to the U.S. if all three of the above conditions are met:
- The medication is not yet licensed in the U.S. but recommended for a serious condition for which there is no home counterpart.
- The imported amount is just a three-month supply.
- The drug is being reported in the U.S. Customs with the medication and/or paperwork that is relevant.
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