There has been a growing concern regarding fake internet pharmacies. In fact, the growth in the number of fake internet pharmacy websites has been called a “global disaster” by the pharmaceutical industry.
There are two things to note here.
First of all, there are definitely unscrupulous scammers operating fake internet pharmacy sites. You should be careful to check the validity of any online pharmacy before ordering your medications from them.
Second, you should take the pharmaceutical industry’s reports with a grain of salt. Big Pharma wants Americans to continue buying “bloated and overpriced” pharmaceuticals at their local pharmacy. It is in Big Pharma’s best interest (more profit) that you pay the best price for your medications locally rather than buying your medications at an affordable price from a licensed Canadian pharmacy. Therefore, they use fear to scare you away from Canadian pharmacies and Canadian prescription drugs.
So how do you make sure you are ordering from a genuine Canadian pharmacy and not a fake internet pharmacy?
First, check the pharmacy’s website carefully. The website must provide you with the pharmacy’s license number, the physical address of the pharmacy, and the regulatory body that oversees its operation. Most Canadian pharmacy regulators have a website that lists registered pharmacies in their jurisdiction. You can visit the website http://www.napra.org to find the list of pharmacies for each province in Canada or to find the regulatory body for the particular province in which your pharmacy is located.
The pharmacy must also provide a phone number on its website for you to call. A pharmacist must be available to discuss your request. Ask the pharmacist about their credentials and ask for their license number. If you wish, you can verify this license number with the provincial pharmacy regulator.
Another item to look for is the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) seal. CIPA is an organization that represents legitimate Canadian pharmacy sites that provide pharmacy services to patients internationally. Now, seeing this seal on a website is not a guarantee in and of itself. Fake internet pharmacies have been known to hijack the CIPA seal and place it on their website. The only way to verify the legitimacy of the CIPA membership seal is to visit the CIPA website at http://www.ciparx.ca and use their Verify Membership feature. A fake internet pharmacy will not have their website listed here.
And the final item to look for on a Canadian pharmacy website is the PharmacyChecker seal. Pharmacy Checker is an independent agency that verifies the legitimacy of Canadian pharmacies, as well as US and international pharmacies. In fact, pharmacies can’t advertise on Google without a PharmacyChecker seal, and Google takes that very seriously. You can verify the PharmacyChecker seal by visiting http://www.PharmacyChecker.com and clicking on Pharmacy Ratings and Profiles.
In addition to checking the above items on the pharmacy’s website, you should also make sure that the pharmacy requires you to provide a prescription from your doctor. Any website that does not require you to provide a prescription is not a legitimate Canadian pharmacy.
Follow these simple rules and you can feel secure knowing you are safely ordering your medications online from a real, licensed Canadian pharmacy.
Copyright (c) 2007 Jeremy Cockerill