ONLINE PHARMACY AND INTERNET PRESCRIBING

To support efforts to regulate prescribing and dispensing of medications via the Internet; further,

To support legislation or regulation that requires online pharmacies to list the states in which the pharmacy and pharmacists are licensed, and, if prescribing services are offered, requires that the sites (1) ensure that a legitimate patient-prescriber relationship exists (consistent with professional practice standards) and (2) list the states in which the prescribers are licensed; further,

To support mandatory accreditation of online pharmacies by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites or Veterinary-Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites; further,

To support appropriate consumer education about the risks and benefits of using online pharmacies; further,

To support the principle that any medication distribution or drug therapy management system must provide timely access to, and interaction with, appropriate professional pharmacist patient-care services.

Rationale

ASHP’s vision to make medication use safe, optimal, and effective includes supporting efforts to protect the public from unscrupulous website operators who illegally provide medications online. Patients are entitled to know whether the healthcare providers prescribing and dispensing their medications are licensed, and in which states they are licensed. ASHP supports legislation and regulations that would require online pharmacies to provide such information. To further guarantee patient safety, ASHP advocates for mandatory accreditation of such sites by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) and Veterinary-Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (Vet-VIPPS) accreditation programs for online pharmacies to assure the public that the pharmacies are compliant with federal and state regulations and NABP criteria. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices also supports the NABP searchable list of accredited online pharmacies and asserts an increased risk of counterfeit drugs due to an increased presence of unregulated online marketplaces posing as legitimate pharmacies. The Food and Drug Administration also offers patient resources for evaluating the legitimacy of online pharmacies through their BeSafeRx campaign. Education of consumers will be required to ensure that online pharmacies are used wisely, and use of online pharmacies should involve appropriate pharmacist counseling. Pharmacists and other healthcare professionals should consider the source and quality of products obtained from an online pharmacy as part of the medication history collection.