Teen ODs on Drugs purchased online without Prescription

Last week, I wrote about the worldwide counterfeit medicine threat and the dangers that an open U.S. drug supply system poses to patient health and safety. Consumers need to be very careful because counterfeit medicines are creeping across our borders from rogue online pharmacies. When buying medicines on line, the government recommends that you always verify the validity of the website through the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy 's Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites.

We can't take this issue lightly. An interesting oped I read today reinforces the precarious position we are in by highlighting the tragic case of Ryan Haight, a high school student who tragically lost his life because he overdosed on a deadly cocktail of medicines that he purchased, without a prescription, from an illegitimate online source. This is just another sober reminder that we must do everything we can to protect patient safety by ensuring that patients have a valid prescription when purchasing medicines online and importantly, cracking down on illegitimate pharmacy sites - many of which are run out of third world countries with weak regulatory systems.