New Law Targets Rogue Online Pharmacies

With addiction to prescription drugs continuing to rise, especially among teenagers, Congress has passed a new law that targets online pharmacies that dispense controlled substances to anyone without a valid prescription from a doctor who has actually examined the patient in person. The new law calls for prison terms for illegally distributing controlled drugs.

The new law will have little or no effect on legal online pharmacies that require a doctor's prescription.

Rather than create a lot of new regulations, the new law strenghtens the government's ability to enforce existing law and clarifies how existing statutes apply to Internet pharmacies that sell controlled drugs such as painkillers like Vicodin and stimulants like Ritalin, both of which are frequently abused.

"This is really making explicit what has been implicit," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the bill's lead sponsor in the Senate. "We've tried to close this loophole by essentially addressing this problem of controlled substances being sold without any medical oversight or prescription."

New Federal Law Has Limitations

The new law does have its limitations, according to some advocates:

• The law does not target online pharmacies based outside the United States.

• It does nothing to address non-controlled drugs such as Viagra, Celebrex or Soma.

• It does not create new requirements or restrictions for others involved in online drug transactions, such as search engines, credit card companies and delivery services.

The new legislation does require online pharmacies to report their activities to the DEA and provide information on the location of doctors and pharmacies.

More Information:

• Painkiller Abuse Increasing Among Older Adults
  
• Basic Facts About OxyContin
  
• A Prescription for Teen Danger

^{Photo: Clipart.com}