By George Anderson
The good news for consumers is that they can save a bundle of money buying prescriptions online.
According to PharmacyChecker.com, Canadian web sites charge an average of 49% less (excluding shipping) than American web sites on the top 1500 prescription medicines sold online.
The bad news is that fifty percent of online pharmacies are not properly licensed and one-third lack adequate privacy policies.
Dr. Tod Cooperman, president, PharmacyChecker told Reuters Health most Mexico-based pharmacies are not licensed and there are a number of unlicensed Canadian and US sites, as well. "There are a few that really check out fine and plenty that don't."
The top sites, according to PharmacyCheck, include three Canadian and two US businesses. The five are Adv-care.com, CrossBorderPharmacy.com, RxNorth.com, CVS.com and Drugstore.com.
Moderator's Comment: Are greater regulatory and oversight controls needed for online pharmacy services or will the market sort itself out?
Dr. Cooperman told Reuters Health it pays to shop around regardless of the country where the prescription is to be filled. PharmacyChecker found US web sites that do not require a prescription charge 54 percent more than those that do. Mexican site prices were essentially the same as those in the US. [George Anderson - Moderator]