Business Wire - March 10, 2000
In an accompanying editorial, the Director of Pharmacy Services for drugstore.comTM, Andy Stergachis, PhD, RPh, says "it is essential that legitimate Web-based pharmacies not be burdened with new Federal regulatory schemes that undermine the benefits offered to consumers while offering no real solution to the problem."
Both editorials have been posted on these medscape.com specialty sites: Medscape Managed Care, http://managedcare.medscape.com; Medscape Nursing, http://nursing.medscape.com; and Medscape Pharmacists, http://pharmacists.medscape.com. Medscape.com, focusing primarily on health professionals, and its companion consumer health site, CBSHealthWatch by Medscape, http://cbs.healthwatch.com, are operated by Medscape, Inc. (NASDAQ NM:MSCP), the leading provider of authoritative health and medical information on the Internet since 1995.
The FDA's Henney, while citing the benefits that legitimate online pharmacies provide to consumers, says that "unfortunately, fraudulent or disreputable Web sites selling prescription drugs illegally also exist. Some of these sites are selling unapproved new drugs, including counterfeit drugs. Others are providing services through individuals who are not properly licensed by the appropriate state boards of pharmacy and/or medicine or are not meeting state practice standards. And others are making prescription drugs available without a valid prescription. This could mean that they do not require a prescription at all or that they require only that customers fill out a questionnaire prior to ordering a prescription drug that the patient has never taken before.
"The problems associated with Web sites that sell prescription drugs illegally are exacerbated because consumers cannot always tell whether an Internet `pharmacy' is legitimate," Henney explains in the editorial. Even if a state successfully shuts down a Web site within its own boundaries, she says, the site can continue to operate in 49 others.
Proposed legislation announced by President Clinton last December would "restore the safety net for Internet purchasers" and allow for rapid, coordinated Federal-State investigations and prosecutions, Henney says. "By promoting consumer confidence and trust, the Administration's plan will support the growth of legitimate online pharmacies while protecting patients."
Online pharmacies would be required to post an FDA-certified seal identifying them as an approved site to ensure customers that they meet all FDA standards. Violators would receive fines of up to $500,000. The FDA would use the $10 million funding proposed by the Clinton Administration to:
-- Identify, investigate and prosecute illegal online pharmacies;
-- Increase public education programs on how to safely purchase drugs online;
-- Provide public service announcements for television stations;
-- Develop a safety checklist to be posted online and distributed by healthcare providers;
-- Place advertisements on Web sites, linking them to the FDA site; and
-- Ensure federal and state authorities have the right tools to investigate and prosecute offenders.
Drugstore.com's Stergachis, in his accompanying piece, asserts that the FDA's proposed new power to review and certify Internet site compliance would actually duplicate longstanding state-by-state pharmacy licensure laws and certification by VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) administered by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NAPB). VIPPS already requires extensive documentation review and verification of procedures, as well as rigorous onsite inspection of pharmacy operations, he notes, and approved sites receive a VIPPS seal and a link to NAPB's VIPPS Web site.
Stergachis maintains that, "any proposed new federal efforts should be narrowly tailored to truly benefit public health while continuing to encourage responsible Internet pharmacies to thrive in this new era of e-commerce." He says the federal government should strengthen the enforcement of existing laws by providing more funding to help state and local authorities crack down on illegal pharmaceutical sites. Stergachis recommends the FDA highlight international Web-based pharmacies operating illegally by placing them on the agency's existing site for detained products and providers at http://www.fda.gov/ora/oasis/ora_oasis_det.html. He also approved of efforts by government -- as well as medical, pharmacy and online pharmacy organizations -- to mount public services campaigns educating American consumers on safe ways to obtain pharmaceutical products, services and information over the Internet through public service campaigns. Drugstore.com is an advertiser/sponsor on the medscape.com site.
"We applaud the FDA and drugstore.com for engaging in vigorous debate on an important safety issue for online consumers worldwide," said Medscape Editor in Chief, George D. Lundberg, MD. "It's appropriate for Medscape to use the immediacy of the Internet to raise these issues, because of our dedication to improving the practice of medicine and our strong commitment to advancing the cause of medical ethics on the Web."
ABOUT MEDSCAPE, INC.
Medscape, Inc. (NASDAQ NM: MSCP), the leading provider of authoritative health and medical information on the Internet since 1995, currently operates two primary healthcare Web sites, medscape.com and CBSHealthWatch by Medscape. As of December 31, 1999, Medscape, Inc.'s sites had more than 1.7 million registered members worldwide, including over 280,000 registered as physicians, 860,000 registered as allied health professionals and 630,000 registered as consumers worldwide.
Medscape.com, www.medscape.com, provides comprehensive, authoritative and timely medical information and interactive programs to physicians, allied healthcare professionals and consumers, and includes the following specialty sites and pages: Medscape Japan, http://japan.medscape.com, Medscape General Medicine, or MedGenMed, www.medscape.com/journal/MedGenMed, believed to be the first and only peer-reviewed online general medical journal; Medical Office Management, http://medoffice.medscape.com, Medscape Nursing, http://nursing.medscape.com; Medscape Pharmacists, http://pharmacists.medscape.com; Medscape Med Students, http://medstudents.medscape.com; and Today on Medscape, http://www.medscape.com/today, featuring the latest health and medical news.
The Company also operates CBSHealthWatch by Medscape, http://cbs.healthwatch.com, the recently launched consumer site designed to help families and individuals make better informed healthcare decisions and to simplify management of their healthcare needs. Developed jointly with CBS Corporation, the site provides personalized, authoritative medical content written for the consumer, access to professional content on Medscape.com and interactive personal health management tools, such as health diaries. CBS and the CBS eye device are registered trademarks of CBS Broadcasting Inc.
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CONTACT: Medscape, Inc., New York David Fluhrer, 212/760-3138 david fluhrer@mail.medscape.com or A. Lavin Communications, New York Andrew Lavin/Robert Tessaro, 212/290-9540 mail@alavin.com
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