You will want to protect yourself when ordering from an online drug store. The reason? There have been plenty of reports in the past several years of pharmacies not giving consumers the correct medications, giving placebos or outdated medication and even giving them dosages that far exceed what their prescriptions are written for. When traced back, many of these pharmacies online were not legitimate or where overseas where no proper tracking and accountability exists.



Here in the United States there are governing entities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) which create and regulate the quality of service as well as standards the online drug store must adhere to. To protect yourself from receiving medications that are harmful to you from pharmacies online, you should follow these two ideas:

1. Thoroughly investigate the online drug store to check and ensure they require a valid (and legal) prescription from a licensed doctor or practitioner that has the authority to do so. A real prescription is your proof that you do require the medication for a specific illness or health condition. If an online entity only requires you to provide a method of payment and answer a few questions, the red flags should be flying in your head.

2. Check to see whether or not the online drug store you plan to use is certified to dispense and deliver medications in your home state. This can be accomplished by visiting the website for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). They implement standards for pharmacies – both brick and mortar and now online – to ensure they are adhering to proper standards. They even sponsor a voluntary program for certification called VIPPS or Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites. Every online pharmacy that goes through this certification is physically met by a team from VIPPS to ensure all protocol of standards and safety are followed.

There are other things you can do besides checking with NABP as to the legitimacy and safety of an online drug store. As mentioned before, do not purchase medications from a website that does not require proof of a prescription. That should be a major red flag. Another flag raiser is the inability to see where the company is registered, as in, are they a company in the United States. Remember, as an American, you are protected by the governing FDA as they have stringent policies in place regarding prescription medications whereas foreign pharmacies do not. You may not know exactly what you receive when purchasing drugs from a foreign online drug store.

When seeking a legitimate pharmacy online, you want to ensure they have proper customer service support in the form of access to a pharmacist with proper credentials. You want advice from someone knowledgeable in the medications and pharmacists are the best ones to handle those queries. If there is any question of side effects of a medication or even the proper way to administer it, you will want to know the advice you receive is sound. Before placing your prescription order with an online drug store, test the customer service department and access to the pharmacist.

The services of an online drug store can be well worth it but it is important to protect your health an interests before convenience and price sake. Take the time to ensure the online entity you are debating on is worth it by investigating them through one of the governing pharmacy bodies mentioned earlier. Visit the websites of these governing entities and give them a call if you cannot find out the information you need.

Information holds power so if you are yourself with it, you will be fine. Therefore, if you think you have found the online drug store for you, go ahead and place your first order. However, do not take your first dosage of medication right away. Look to the internet and find the drug manufacturer's website so you can check what your medication should look like. Compare the two to ensure they match. Most drugs have the milligram dosage as well as drug name inscribed on it and therefore it is easy to tell. If you have the slightest hesitation, visit your neighborhood pharmacist and ask them. Your life is more important than the convenience and price of an online drug store.