1. The NABP: Just A Hired Gun In The Unfair War Against
Online Pharmacies
Eli Lilly, a Fortune 500 corporation, had revenues of $20 billion in 2008, making it the 148th
largest company in the United States and the 10th largest corporation in global
pharmaceutical sales. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), calls itself
an international association that helps state licensing boards to develop, implement, and
enforce equal values relating to drug stores. As of 1999 the NABP created the Verified
Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) program to certify internet pharmacies.As of 2004
a press release from the FDA suggested VIPPS to potential online pharmacy users as "one
method to help minimize the risks of getting bad quality drugs from disreputable sources.”The
NABP is a bureau created by the very pharmacists who are likely to lose business to internet
pharmacies.
Presently, 39 only sites or 4% (VIPPS or Vet-VIPPS accredited), out of more than 12,000
internet pharmacy sites, have gotten official approval from NABP. “NABP recognizes that
some non-accredited internet pharmacies may be operating legitimately… Of those entities
that approve non-accredited internet pharmacies, LegitScript.com is the only one that
adheres to NABP-recognized standards.”
Let’s take a look at a directory of virtually 8,000 Pharmacy Sites that the NABP does not
vouch for: “Of the sites reviewed, those currently listed as Not Recommended are
characterized as follows:
·84% do not necessitate a authoritative prescription
·48% offer foreign or non-FDA-approved drugs
·56% do not provide a physical address
·27% are situated outside of the US in Russia or India and selling medicines unlawfully to
patients in the US”
Are these justifiable causes for staying away from the online drug stores?
·Many acceptable commercial internet web sites are hosted in countries other than the US
around the world including Russia, China, and India.
·Most products that Americans buy are manufactured in China, India, and many other parts
of the world.
·At this point in time, there are many web sites (Amazon for instance) that do not provide a
physical address.
·Money (point of sale) is always going all over the world these days.
This cannot be an indictment of online pharmacies, since that is how business is conducted
today by most large American corporations.
So let’s review:

2. US licensed internet pharmacies operating to save the consumer time and money by selling
(with a prescription) FDA compliant drugs are being scrutinized and shutdown by the NABP,
an organization that represents pharmacists with brick and mortar stores-pharmacists who
are losing millions of dollars in sales to these same internet pharmacies.
This is exactly what being done:
·The NABP sets up the VIPPs certification for (as this article writing) 39 sites (most are
internet sites for large brick and mortar pharmacies) to single out the other 12,000
independent internet sites that are not VIPPs conforming.
·LegitScript appoints or requests that Directi (the registrar) close down or put a hold on the
competition sites (non-VIPPS online pharmacies) essentially removing them from the
internet.
The US media cooperates (intentionally) by producing special programs with fear mongering
in order to confuse the public, once more, about the evils of medications coming from
unknown global sources. Remember that pharmaceuticals corporations shell out about 57
Billion Dollars a year for advertising on these same TV, radio, and other print media outlets
as of 2005. That’s $57,000,000,000.00, My friends!
Are TV And Radio News Programs Encouraging An “All-Out” FDA War On Independent
Internet Pharmacies?, If The VIPPs Certificate Gives Credibility To An Online Pharmacy,
Who’s In Charge Of Which Pharmacies Get That Certificate?, Do Internet Pharmacies Really
Sell Non-FDA Compliant Drugs?