Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Prescription Drugs From Online Pharmacies: Is It Legal?

Prescription Drugs From Online Pharmacies: Is It Legal?
Since the inception of the internet, the modern marketplace
has gone from walking around the corner to buy something,
to globetrotting the ends of the earth with a mouse click.
Anything can be found on the internet, from movies and
electronics, to clothing and dating services. The modern
day entrepreneurs of marketing, are utilizing the internet
in ways that no one could have ever imagined. Nothing is
too big or too small, to be sold in the cyber marketplace.
Today, this even includes prescription drugs from online
pharmacies.

Online pharmacies are certainly the wave of the future.
More and more online pharmacies are springing up every day.
Normally an individual would get into their car and drive
to a doctor's office, to get a prescription for medication.
Nowadays, one only needs to turn on the computer and get
onto the internet, to get a prescription medication.

Today's modern online pharmacies have employed doctor's
that can prescribe prescriptions to patients, right over
the phone. Imagine, no more waiting for hours in a
doctor's office, for your name to be called, while
listening to cheesy elevator music. Just about every
medication imaginable, can be acquired on the internet.
Anything from high blood pressure medication, to allergy
medication, to medications that treat sexually transmitted
diseases, are available online.

So one has to ask the question: are these online pharmacies
legal? Well, the answer is really not that simple. For
example, in Mexico, one can obtain nearly any type of
medication possible, without a prescription. Say you
wanted Xanax, all you would have to do is to go down to the
local pharmacy and buy it. In the United States, however,
you would have to go to a doctor's office and have the
doctor prescribe it to you, because you cannot purchase
Xanax in the United States, without a prescription. On the
other hand, if you live in the United States, then you can
order Xanax online from a pharmacy, that is located in
Mexico, without a prescription, and usually pay
substantially less than what it would cost in the United
States.

One way that online pharmacies circumvent the prescription
requirements in the United States and other countries, is
buy employing staff doctor's, to prescribe medications to
consumers, who wish to purchase them. So, if you contacted
an online pharmacy in an attempt to purchase medication
which you didn't have a prescription for, then all they
would do, is have you speak with one of their staff
doctor's. This doctor could then prescribe the medication
for you, thus making the purchase legal.

Many opponents of the online pharmacies, say that this is
an unethical way of doing business. However, the laws of
the United States, don't govern other countries where the
online pharmacies are located, and the online pharmacies
that are located in the United States, are complying with
the laws by having doctors prescribe the controlled
medications.

Many proponents of online pharmacies, say that it gives
consumers who don't have the money to purchase expensive
drugs in the United States, a way to get the drugs that
they need for a substantial discount. The truth is, that
medical care costs in the United States, have skyrocketed
in recent years. Many financially strapped individuals,
can't afford health insurance, much needed medications, and
expensive doctor visits. So whether you are for or against
online pharmacies, the bottom line, is that they are
certainly here to stay.


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Bryan Pringle, Ph.D., is an author and an webmaster of
websites offering news and information about online
pharmacies. For more information, please visit:
http://www.consumersdiscountrx.com/discount_prescription_rx

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