How to Tell A Licensed Canadian Pharmacy From A Fake Internet Pharmacy

There has been a growing concern regarding fake internet
pharmacies. In fact, the growth in the number of fake
internet pharmacy websites has been termed as a "global
disaster" by the pharmaceutical industry.

There are two things to stress here.

First, there are definitely unscrupulous con-men operating
fake internet pharmacy sites. You must take care in
verifying the validity of any online pharmacy before you
order your medications from them.

Secondly, you need to take reports from the pharmaceutical
industry with a grain of salt. Big Pharma wants Americans
to continue to buy "inflated and overpriced"
pharmaceuticals from their local pharmacy. It is in Big
Pharma's best interest (more profits) that you pay top
dollar for your medications locally rather than buying your
medications affordably from a licensed Canadian pharmacy.
Therefore, they use fear to scare you away from Canadian
pharmacies and Canadian prescription drugs.

So how do you ensure that you are ordering from a genuine
Canadian pharmacy and not a fake internet pharmacy?

First, review the pharmacy's website thoroughly. The
website should provide you with the pharmacy license
number, the physical address of the pharmacy and the
regulatory body that oversees their operation. Most
Canadian pharmacy regulatory bodies have a website that
lists the registered pharmacies in their jurisdiction. You
can visit the website www.napra.org in order to find the
listing of pharmacies for each province in Canada or to
find the regulatory body for the particular province your
pharmacy is located in.

The pharmacy should also provide a phone number on their
website for you to call. A pharmacist should be available
for you to speak to about your order. Ask the pharmacist
about their credentials and ask for their license number.
If you want, 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 actually visit the CIPA website at www.ciparx.ca
and use their Verify Membership function. A fake internet
pharmacy will not have its 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 American and International
pharmacies. In fact, pharmacies can not advertise on
Google without a PharmacyChecker seal and Google takes this
very seriously. You can verify the PharmacyChecker seal by
visiting www.PharmacyChecker.com and clicking on the
Pharmacy Ratings and Profiles.

Other than checking out 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 safe knowing
that you are safely ordering your medications online from a
real, licensed Canadian pharmacy.

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Jeremy Cockerill is a licensed pharmacist with the Canadian
Pharmacy, http://www.universaldrugstore.com . Mr.
Cockerill was chosen as the 2005 Manitoba Customer Contact
Association's Manager of the Year. Mr. Cockerill is an
advocate for patient access to affordable medications.