Health agencies and experts are providing advice to Canadians who are considering buying drugs over the Internet, with the issue launched back into the spotlight after the recent death of a B.C. woman who took a drug she purchased online.
The B.C. coroner says the 57-year-old Vancouver Island woman bought a sedative not legally sold in Canada, and which has been linked to overdose deaths in other countries.
The exact cause of her death is still being investigated but preliminary results suggest she was poisoned.
Health Canada warns that consumers have no way of tracing these companies or finding out how to reach them if they have a problem.
"If you order from these sites, you may get counterfeit drugs with no active ingredients, drugs with the wrong ingredients, drugs with dangerous additives, or drugs past their expiry date," Health Canada warns on its website.
"Even if these drugs do not harm you directly or immediately, your condition may get worse without effective treatment."
The Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) offers this advice for those who are planning on buying drugs online:
1. Identify Canadian Pharmacy Filling Prescription:
- The U.S. patient should know the Canadian pharmacy's name, address, phone number, license number, and province where the pharmacy is licensed.
- This information should be clearly identified on the web page, on registration forms or provided by affiliate U.S. organizations.
- Deal with a CIPA pharmacy, but be aware that some use the CIPA seal fraudulently. Check directly with www.ciparx.ca
2. Contact the Canadian provincial pharmacy regulatory agency:
- To ensure that the pharmacy is a legitimate Canadian pharmacy the patient can contact the provincial pharmacy regulatory agency. Alberta-www.phamacists.ab.ca, British Columbia-www.bcphamacists.org, Manitoba-www.mpha.mb.ca
- The provincial pharmacy regulatory agency sets standards of practice and regulates pharmacy from a patient safety perspective.
- A U.S. patient has the same rights as a Canadian patient to file a complaint with a provincial pharmacy regulatory agency.
3. Make Sure Your Canadian Pharmacy Follows the Rules
- The Canadian pharmacy should require a prescription from the patient's U.S. physician.
- The Canadian pharmacy should obtain both demographic and medical information from the U.S. patient.
- The Canadian pharmacy should have a Canadian physician review patient information before authorizing a Canadian prescription.
- The U.S. patient should have access to a Canadian pharmacist for the purpose of medication counseling and drug information.
- The Canadian pharmacy should deliver the medication in a secure and traceable method.
NEVER ORDER PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FROM A SITE THAT TELLS YOU IT WILL SHIP YOUR ORDER WITHOUT REQUIRING A PRESCRIPTION.
CIPA is the only national association of international pharmacies in Canada. We are NOT internet pharmacies. CIPA members do the bulk of the international pharmacy business from Canada.
Fake sites
The pills in question were purchased through a health-related website belonging to a group of companies that change websites and Internet addresses ever few days, according to the coroner's service.
"These fake sites look very realistic,'' regional coroner Rose Stanton said.
"They would fool a lot of people. And they mention the names of organization and companies that don't exist.''
Karen Wolfe, National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities, encourages the public to check the website's credentials before keying in their credit card number.
"You can't for certain know that the information that they publish on their site is to be trusted," Wolfe told CTV Newsnet on Wednesday.
"But by having the information that it's licensed in the province, you can certainly call the College of Pharmacists in the province that the pharmacy is licensed in to ascertain that it is, in fact, a true pharmacy," she said.
Anyone who is uncertain about a drug they have bought over the Internet should take it in its original packaging to a pharmacy for proper disposal, the coroner's service said. |
