Pharmacies
6 July 2017 | Comments Off on The Benefits and Pitfalls of Online Pharmacies

In today’s world, the internet seems to run things.  We get our news from the internet, order our takeout online, there is even a growing number of people finding love through the web.  But what about our aches and pains, ordering a prescription to help you deal with chronic pain?  There is increasing demand for online availability, and pharmaceuticals are no exception. 

With our modern world of convenience, we expect everything to be available at our finger tips.  Waiting in a queue is a thing of the past, and on-demand service is a must.  With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that online pharmacies are popping up left and right, and seem to be gaining traction quite well.  There are clear benefits to this method of dispensing peoples’ medicine to them, but with that relatively easy access to drugs there must surely be some pitfalls. 

In this post, we aim to highlight some of the clear benefits of online pharmacies, and weigh them against some of the negative aspects of the industry. 

Benefits of Online Pharmacies

Savings hold a constant place in most peoples’ minds, that’s no secret.  This is where perhaps the greatest argument for online pharmacies comes from.  Online pharmacies often supply the common drugs that people are after for their ailments ranging from an everyday cold to chromic pain, and these pharmacies often offer the drugs at significantly reduced price. 

There is also the factor of convenience.  Modern life is a whirlwind of fast-paced daily interactions, long work hours, and countless other stressors we encounter in our day-to-day lives.  So, having an option to get your prescriptions online, from the comfort of your own home or wherever else you may find yourself when it’s time for a refill order, and get the process done as quickly and painlessly as possible. 

The Pitfalls

In some parts of the world it is considered illegal to import prescription medications, and various governments keep a pretty close watch on the importation of the drugs.  In these cases, many governments allow leniency for individuals ordering prescription drugs in small batches (often allowing less than three month supplies of the prescription in question).  Due to this fact, it is always recommended that people check their local regulations. 

In recent years, there was a crackdown on online pharmacies with nearly 2500 websites operating as online pharmacies being shut down all together and another 1000 or so either being raided or receiving formal warning. 

Perhaps the greatest, and most relevant concern regarding online pharmacies is the overall safety of the drugs in question.  You want the medications you are consuming to be safe for your body when you take them, so taking a deep look at the safety issues surrounding this industry is very important.  There is a lot of grey area when it comes to this aspect, but there is still some solid information available that will be good to carry with you. 

Taboo

Unfortunately, due to the grey areas surrounding the sale of painkillers and other pharmaceuticals online there are common misconceptions that can tend to steer people away.  One of the most regular and reoccurring of these misconceptions is that cheaper, “unapproved” (by the country’s governing body that oversees pharmaceuticals, such as the FDA in the United States) drugs are no different from and equally dangerous to counterfeit medications.  Typically, when someone refers to unapproved foreign drugs, they are talking about actual medications that are readily available from foreign pharmacies.  They have been approved, just not in the country which claims unapproved status. 

To help drive that point home, there was a study done in the United States in which the National Bureau of Economic Research purchased samples of common drugs from a variety of online pharmacies based across Europe, Canada, Asia, Australia, and the United States alike.  The pharmacies they chose were all selected in an online search, in the same manner that the average customer would.  They found that all 328 samples they ordered from the various pharmacies were legitimate.  It is important to note that the online pharmacies they used were all certified. 

Our lives are increasingly busy, and our free time drying up all the time, so the convenience of ordering your prescriptions for pain control and other ailments is a clear advantage.  With more eyes turning to these online pharmacies their popularity is sure to continue its growth.  With proper research and an online pharmacy you can trust, you can feel good about ordering your refills online and continuing your busy life with little interruption.