Buying Prescription Drugs over the Internet FREE

The Internet may increase the public's access to health care information and services, including the purchase of prescription drugs. The exact nature of Internet-based prescription drug services is not well known, however.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School wanted to find out which prescription drugs people could buy over the Internet, as well as the requirements for buying them, the associated purchase costs, and the type of company that sells drugs in this way.

Forty-six Web sites.

In February-March 1999, the researchers extensively searched the Internet to identify sites that provided consultations with a doctor and sold drugs available in the United States only by prescription. To be included in this study, the site had to sell the product directly to patients.

Of the 46 sites found that sold prescription drugs directly to the public, 37 required a prescription or a consultation with the site's online doctor (or both). Consultations consisted of the doctor's review of purchasers' answers to online questionnaires. The 9 sites that required no prescription were all based outside the United States. None of the sites would identify the consulting physicians or their qualifications. One site sold a medication that was not approved for use in the United States. The most commonly available drugs were sildenafil (Viagra, used to treat male impotency) and finasteride (Propecia, used to treat male baldness). Even without shipping costs (which varied from $8 to $25), the drugs were more expensive online than in Philadelphia pharmacies. Online consultation fees were generally about $70; in comparison, the average cost of a visit to a primary care doctor in the Philadelphia area was $60.

This study evaluated Internet sites over a 2-month period in 1999. Internet sites come and go rapidly, so the findings might be completely different if someone repeated the study at a later time. In addition, the researchers looked in detail at the procedures for getting only the two most commonly available drugs.

It is easy to buy some prescription drugs over the Internet, even without a prescription. Doctors who provide online prescriptions are not accountable for their decisions, since they are not identified on any site. The medical information requested by doctors online may be incomplete, and purchasers could easily misrepresent information; patients could therefore receive drugs that might be useless or risky for them to take. Drugs and consultations may cost more over the Internet than in local pharmacies. The Internet may increase public access to prescription drugs, but at higher costs and with uncertain accountability and quality control.