Search
Recommended Products
Related Links


Number of online users in last 3 minutes
 

 

 

Informative Articles

A Psychological Approach To Quit Smoking
Smoking habits in most cases have to do with psychological addiction. It is not the lack of nicotine that represents the hardest obstacle to quit smoking. Though overcoming the physical cravings for nicotine can be difficult, overcoming...

DO YOU HAVE ACHY JOINTS?
Regardless of your age, you could have Arthritis. In North America over Fifty five million people suffer from this debilitating disease. Arthritis is an inflammation of one or more joints. It is characterized by pain, swelling, stiffness,...

Eight Fitness Tips For The Combat Realist
Forget being the toughest guy on the planet. It's pretty easy for martial artists to adopt complacency and begin to rest on their laurels. Not you? Well, if the circumference of your waist is large enough to hide the knot of your black belt, this...

Mannerly Behavior 101
I was standing in line in the drugstore this evening and up walked a father with his 10 year old son. And what did the 10 year old boy have on? A t-shirt that said “I wish my babysitter were a HOOTER girl.” I was quietly appalled. I hear the most...

Relationship Coaches Offer Expert Advice on How to Decide Whether to Stay In or Leave a Relationship
Webster's Dictionary calls a relationship "a romantic or passionate attachment." If you're in one, you might think that you've found heaven on earth. Or maybe something that's not quite so grand, just OK or so-so. Or possibly something far ...

 

i Zone | Kids World | Html Color Code | Lyrics | Science | Screensavers | Space Photos

Funny Photos | BBC News | Funny sms | Wallpapers | Free Games | Nursery Rhymes | Jokes

Calculate Love | Send Free SMS | Submit Photo | Gallery | Drawings | Art of Living | Movie

Download free drivers | Free Stuff | dictionary | Free Fonts | Scientists | Submissions

How-what-who | Aqua | Acne

Google
Web www.poombatta.com
DEA Busts 4600 Online Pharmacies: A Word of Caution

Copyright 2005 David Altfeder

In September 2005, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) shut down more than 4600 illegal online pharmacy web sites and arrested 18 people who ran those sites. The illegal pharmacies shipped a range of medications to consumers without a valid prescription, including hyrocodone, promethazine cough syrup with codeine, phentermine and Xanax.

The DEA investigation, known as Operation CYBERx, also netted seven luxury cars, 2400 checks and money orders from customers and several boxes of cash. According to the DEA, the drug traffickers averaged more than $50,000 per day in profits through direct sales and through affiliate sales. They even sold cough syrup with codeine out the back door of their warehouse.

DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy said, “Operation CYBERx puts out of business alleged cyber criminals who were selling powerful narcotics without legitimate prescriptions to anyone with a computer and cash. These high-tech drug dealers were fueling addictions by selling the very drugs intended to prevent and treat ailments—not inflict them. Just as important, this Operation makes more Americans aware that buying prescription drugs from these rogue websites is illegal and dangerous.”

It is important to differentiate between illegal pharmacies which dispense medication without a valid prescription and legal online pharmacies. A legal online pharmacy requires a physician to make an independent medical judgment about the appropriateness of the prescription request. If appropriate, the physician writes a legal prescription. The best of these pharmacies caution their patients to use their service wisely.

If you are considering a purchase from an online pharmacy,

- Avoid any pharmacy which offers codeine (hydrocodone) or other


narcotics
- Avoid any overseas pharmacy
- Avoid pharmacies which are hosted in China, Russia and other foreign countries. A recent report indicated 20% of medication shipped from Russia is counterfeit.
- Examine the web site. Is it a pure sales site? Sites with news, articles, and health advice are more likely to be legitimate, long term businesses.
- Avoid purchasing from any site which has sent you an unsolicited email advertisement (Spam).
- Avoid pharmacies which allow you to order any quantity of medication. Legitimate pharmacies limit the quantity of medication you can order and limit the frequency with which you can reorder.
- Exercise caution. If you have a new health problem which you do not fully understand or which has not been evaluated by a physician, see a physician first. For example, if you wake up with a major headache which you’ve never had before, don’t order pain medication from an online pharmacy, go to the emergency room instead.

Are there any conditions under which it is OK to order from an online pharmacy? While no formal standards have been developed to guide patients, there are certain conditions under which a purchase from an online pharmacy appears to be safe. For example, If you have been treated for a medical condition by a physician and you periodically have to reorder the medication, a purchase from an online pharmacy can save you the time and expense of a visit to the doctor’s office. Even in this case, periodic re-evaluation by your physician is wise.


About the author:
David Altfeder is owner of http://www.deepdiscountpharmacy.net. He has written a series of articles on health, medicine and pharmacology.