Have you ever thought about buying your prescription online, and then became quickly overwhelmed? You may not be surprised to know there are over 25,600,000 sites online pharmacies. Many of these sites are legitimate pharmacies, but it only takes one fraudulent or disreputable site to make a mistake that will produce serious consequences. How do you tell the difference?

The Food and Drug Administration recommends the following safety tips for consumers making online purchases of medication:

1. Make sure the site requires a prescription.

Have you ever walked into your local pharmacy to purchase a medication without a prescription? Legitimate pharmacies would laugh you right out of the store. Buying online is no different. If the site you are buying from says you don’t need a prescription, run in the other direction and find one that does.

2. Make sure a pharmacist is available.

Every time I go into the pharmacy, I have to sign a waiver stating that I wish to decline the medication consultation with the pharmacist. A legitimate, online pharmacy should have a licensed pharmacist on staff to assist you with any questions you may have.

3. Only purchase from licensed, U.S. pharmacies.

Because regulations vary from country to country, buy only from licensed pharmacies within the United States. Contact the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy for more information about licensing and its unique certification program for online pharmacies.

4. Be mindful of personal information.

Use extreme caution when giving out personal information like credit card numbers over the Internet. Check with the pharmacy first, to make sure your information will be protected.

With medication-related deaths on the rise, every consumer should use great caution when purchasing their prescriptions over the Internet.  Following a few, simple steps can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your health.

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Tags: assisted living, Healthcare, managing medication, medication compliance, prescriptions, seniors

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 9:44 am and is filed under Med Smarts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.