Congress has passed a bill intended to crack down on rogue online pharmacies that sell drugs without a valid prescription. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) prohibits the sale of controlled substances over the Internet without a prescription written by a doctor who has conducted an in-person examination of the patient. It would also require online pharmacies to display certain information on the their Web sites, including a pharmacy’s address and phone number as well information about the pharmacist and any physician associated with the business.

The legislation is a response to mounting concerns that unscrupulous online pharmacies are contributing to drug addictions and drug overdoses ‘ particularly among adolescents ‘ by selling controlled substances without requiring valid prescriptions and without verifying customer ages or identities. We have seen numerous examples where folks have gotten prescription drugs – without ever seeing a doctor – online. The last such case we saw resulted in a death caused by an apparent overdose.

Source: Associated Press

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