New bill targets rogue druggists on the Internet

By Sarah Rubenstein

"The legislation, approved by Congress last month, aims to make it harder for people to obtain the drugs by prohibiting online pharmacies from dispensing medications to anyone without a valid prescription from a doctor who has examined the purchaser in person at least once. It would have little effect on legal online pharmacies, such as drugstore.com and the sites of pharmacy chains Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp. that already impose such rules on their customers."

"Regulators say the new law is intended in part to strengthen the federal government's ability to enforce existing statutes and make clear how they apply to the Internet..."

"In addition to insisting on a valid prescription from a doctor who has examined the patient in person at least once (with certain exceptions for telemedicine), the new legislation requires pharmacies to specify in their registrations with the DEA if they're selling controlled substances online, and to place clear language on their home pages that they comply with certain of the bill's provisions..."

Full article available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122351521815117817.html?mod=googlenews_w...

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