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Hidden costs: Hidden fees may include account fees, ordering fees, and consultation fees. These additional expenses can drive up costs, negating the benefit of low prices and free shipping.

Privacy policies: Illegal online pharmacies may pose risks to consumers of credit card fraud and identity theft. They may provide privacy, but privacy policies may be lacking. A website cannot sell your personal information unless you agree to it.  Any financial information given may also be vulnerable to hackers.

Illegal: The NAPB conducted a study in 2013 and found that 96.7% of online pharmacies did not comply with federal and state laws. This report covered over 10,000 pharmacies and of these only 90 were considered legitimate with a further 258 considered to have the potential to be classified as legitimate. Buying drugs from a pharmacy situated outside the U.S. might be illegal.

How you can distinguish the good from the bad

Price too low: If prices are way too low, it should be a red flag. It could mean that the drugs have not approved by the FDA and are coming from outside the U.S.

Dot-pharmacy: Check to see whether the online pharmacy you’re visiting has ".pharmacy" at the end of its web address. If it does, it must follow the laws.

NABP listing and licensing information: Pharmacies should have a Verified Internet Pharmacy Practices Site (VIPPS) seal issued by the NABP. Even if this blue and red seal appears on the website, it’s worth cross-checking.  The NABP lists recommended sites.   If an online pharmacy does not provide any licensing information, it should be taken as a warning sign.

Pharmacist: Check if a pharmacist is available for you to email or talk to online or on the phone. You can verify U.S.-based pharmacist’s licenses online.

Prescriptions: If an online pharmacy is selling drugs without requiring a prescription, it’s a major red flag.

Privacy policies: Privacy and security policies should be easy to find and understand. If there aren’t any, stay away.  Sharing credit card information, social security numbers and personal medical history is unsafe.

What is being done to improve safety when purchasing drugs online?

Operation Pangea X: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently partnered up with international law enforcement and regulatory agencies in a major global operation aimed at identifying sources and distribution of substandard or counterfeit drugs and removing them from the chain of supply.

Amongst other actions undertaken by the FDA during Operation Pangea, was the issuing of warning letters to operators of 401 websites illegally selling unapproved medications to consumers. The FDA also worked alongside internet registrars to seize over 100 domain names, such as buykonopin.com.  Packages suspected of containing illegal drugs were also seized and screened, resulting in nearly 500 parcels being detained for compliance tests.