Thursday, June 5, 2014

Buying Drugs on Amazon

Apparently, it is pretty easy to buy medications on Amazon.  Ford Vox wrote on Slate about his wife's purchase of prescription medications on the world's largest online retailer.  Everyone know that drugs are expensive.  Unfortunately, many patients fail to treat their disease states because they can't afford the therapy.  Some places off discounts on generics and manufacturers offer some assistance, but you have to qualify for these programs.  Buying from Canada could be an option for desperate patients, but the action is illegal.  Apparently, some people have turned to Amazon for help.  Keep in mind that the process is also illegal.

When looking for an acne treatment, Vox's wife recieved a product from Thailand that contained a major antibiotic called clindamycin.  Highly regulated, use of clindamycin brings about worries of C. diff infections, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, and general antibiotic resistance.  I did a quick search and found prednisolone, a potent steroid.  He also found the antibiotic norfloxacin and muscle relaxant methocarbamol.  This is a very dangerous situation for peddling pharmaceuticals without a license.  The FDA is now getting involved and seizing such packages at the international ports.  Hopefully, they can get Amazon and other retailers to stop selling these things.  But it will probably be a long fight through the legal system.

No comments:

Post a Comment