‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person may not dispense
a prescription drug, or arrange the dispensing of
such a drug, pursuant to a sale of the drug if—
‘‘(A) for purposes of such sale, the pur-
chaser communicated with the person through
the Internet;
‘‘(B) the patient for whom the drug was
purchased did not, when such communications
began, have a prescription for the drug;
‘‘(C) pursuant to such communications, the
person provided for the involvement of a practi-
tioner and the practitioner issued a prescription
for the drug that was purchased;
‘‘(D) the person knew, or had reason to
know, that the practitioner did not, when
issuing the prescription, have a qualifying med-
ical relationship with the patient; and
‘‘(E)(i) the person received payment for
the drug from the purchaser; or
‘‘(ii) in the case of arranging the dis-
pensing of the drug, the person received pay-
ment for doing so from the person who dis-
pensed the drug.
For purposes of subparagraph (E), payment is re-
ceived if money or other valuable consideration is re-
ceived.
‘‘(2) QUALIFYING MEDICAL RELATIONSHIP.—
‘‘(A) 
IN
GENERAL.—With 
respect 
to
issuing a prescription for a drug for a patient,
a practitioner has a qualifying medical relation-
ship with the patient for purposes of this sec-
tion if at least one in-person medical evaluation
of the patient has been conducted by the practi-
tioner. This subparagraph and subparagraph
(B) may not be construed as having any appli-
cability beyond this section.
‘‘(B) IN-PERSON MEDICAL EVALUATION.—
A medical evaluation by a practitioner is an in-
person medical evaluation for purposes of this
section if the practitioner is in the physical
presence of the patient as part of conducting
the evaluation, without regard to whether por-
tions of the evaluation are conducted by other
health professionals.
‘‘(c) ACTIONS BY STATES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney gen-
eral of any State has reason to believe that the in-
terests of the residents of that State have been or
are being threatened or adversely affected because
any person has engaged or is engaging in a pattern
or practice that violates section 301(l), the State
may bring a civil action on behalf of its residents in
an appropriate district court of the United States to
enjoin such practice, to enforce compliance with such
section (including a nationwide injunction), to obtain
damages, restitution, or other compensation on be-
half of residents of such State, to obtain reasonable
attorneys fees and costs if the State prevails in the
civil action, or to obtain such further and other relief
as the court may deem appropriate.
‘‘(2) NOTICE.—The State shall serve prior writ-
ten notice of any civil action under paragraph (1) or
(5)(B) upon the Secretary and provide the Secretary
with a copy of its complaint, except that if it is not
feasible for the State to provide such prior notice,
the State shall serve such notice immediately upon
instituting such action. Upon receiving a notice re-
specting a civil action, the Secretary shall have the
right—
‘‘(A) to intervene in such action;
‘‘(B) upon so intervening, to be heard on
all matters arising therein; and
‘‘(C) to file petitions for appeal.
‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bring-
ing any civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in
this chapter shall prevent an attorney general of a
State from exercising the powers conferred on the
attorney general by the laws of such State to con-
duct investigations or to administer oaths or affir-
mations or to compel the attendance of witnesses or
the production of documentary and other evidence.
‘‘(4) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.—Any civil
action brought under paragraph (1) in a district
court of the United States may be brought in the
district in which the defendant is found, is an inhab-
itant, or transacts business or wherever venue is
proper under section 1391 of title 28, United States
Code. Process in such an action may be served in
any district in which the defendant is an inhabitant
or in which the defendant may be found.
‘‘(5) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.—
‘‘(A) Nothing contained in this section
shall prohibit an authorized State official from
proceeding in State court on the basis of an al-
leged violation of any civil or criminal statute of
such State.
‘‘(B) In addition to actions brought by an
attorney general of a State under paragraph
(1), such an action may be brought by officers
of such State who are authorized by the State
to bring actions in such State on behalf of its
residents.
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—
‘‘(1) INTERNET-RELATED
DEFINITIONS.—For
purposes of this section:
‘‘(A) The term ‘Internet’ means collectively
the myriad of computer and telecommunications
facilities, including equipment and operating
software, which comprise the interconnected
world-wide network of networks that employ the
transmission control protocol/internet protocol,
or any predecessor or successor protocols to
such protocol, to communicate information of
all kinds by wire or radio.
‘‘(B) The term ‘link’, with respect to the
Internet, means one or more letters, words,
numbers, symbols, or graphic items that appear
on a page of an Internet site for the purpose
of serving, when activated, as a method for exe-
cuting an electronic command—
‘‘(i) to move from viewing one portion
of a page on such site to another portion
of the page;
‘‘(ii) to move from viewing one page
on such site to another page on such site;
or
‘‘(iii) to move from viewing a page on
one Internet site to a page on another
Internet site.
‘‘(C) The term ‘page’, with respect to the
Internet, means a document or other file
accessed at an Internet site.
‘‘(D)(i) The terms ‘site’ and ‘address’, with
respect to the Internet, mean a specific location
on the Internet that is determined by Internet
Protocol numbers. Such term includes the do-
main name, if any.
‘‘(ii) The term ‘domain name’ means a
method of representing an Internet address
without direct reference to the Internet Protocol
numbers for the address, including methods
that use designations such as ‘.com’, ‘.edu’,
‘.gov’, ‘.net’, or ‘.org’.
‘‘(iii) The term ‘Internet Protocol num-
bers’ includes any successor protocol for deter-
mining a specific location on the Internet.
‘‘(2) OTHER
DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of
this section:
‘‘(A) The term ‘practitioner’, with respect
to the issuance of a prescription for a drug for
a patient, means—
‘‘(i) an individual authorized by law to
administer the drug; or
‘‘(ii) an individual who is not so au-
thorized but represents himself or herself
as an individual who is so authorized.
‘‘(B) The term ‘prescription drug’ means a
drug that is subject to section 503(b).
‘‘(C) The term ‘qualifying medical relation-
ship’, with respect to a practitioner and a pa-
tient, has the meaning indicated for such term
in subsection (b).’’.
(b) INCLUSION AS PROHIBITED ACT.—Section 301 of
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C.
331) is amended by inserting after paragraph (k) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(l) The dispensing of a prescription drug in violation
of section 503B, or arranging for the dispensing of such
a drug in violation of such section.’’.
(c) INTERNET SALES
OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS;
CONSIDERATION BY SECRETARY OF PRACTICES AND PRO-
CEDURES
FOR CERTIFICATION
OF LEGITIMATE BUSI-
NESSES.—In carrying out section 503B of the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (as added by subsection
(a) of this section), the Secretary of Health and Human
Services shall take into consideration the practices and
procedures of public or private entities that certify that
businesses selling prescription drugs through Internet
sites are legitimate businesses, including practices and
procedures regarding disclosure formats and verification
programs.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
subsections (a) and (b) take effect upon the expiration of
the 60-day period beginning on the date of the enactment
of this Act, without regard to whether a final rule to im-
plement such amendments has been promulgated by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services under section
701(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The
preceding sentence may not be construed as affecting the
authority of such Secretary to promulgate such a final
rule.
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