To help American consumers recognize forces that act against or in favor of their ability to get low cost medication, PharmacyChecker.com launched a new blog, "Online Pharmacy and Prescription Drug Review." Initial articles expose two groups working against consumer access to Canadian and foreign online pharmacies: The Partnership for Safe Medicines (SafeMedicines.org) and LegitScript.
WHITE PLAINS, NY — March 4, 2010 — PharmacyChecker.com, the leading independent online pharmacy verification company, has launched a blog to help the public understand and recognize the forces affecting their access to safe and affordable medication. The new blog is called the Online Pharmacy And Prescription Drug Review and can also be found at www.PharmacyChecker.com/blog.
"This blog is the second phase in our work to help Americans find safe and affordable medicine," said Tod Cooperman, MD, President and Founder of PharmacyChecker.com. "Our Vice President, Gabriel Levitt, and I felt that it was not enough to provide pharmacy ratings and price comparisons when there are powerful interests working against America's access to lower cost medication. We will reveal what is going on behind the scenes in government and industry with the hope that this will help Americans take a more active role in making healthcare affordable."
Two of the initial four postings on the blog expose groups attempting to frighten or dissuade Americans from using lower cost, non-U.S. pharmacies:
SafeMedicines.org - Scaring the public away from safe and affordable medicine as The Partnership For Safe Medicines is a short exposé of The Partnership for Safe Medicine, which is primarily sponsored and run by the pharmaceutical industry and is an avowed foe of personal drug importation. As discussed in the article, a popular tactic of this group is mixing legitimate concerns over drug counterfeiting with unwarranted warnings about the safety of buying drugs from pharmacies in Canada and other countries.
LegitScript - Not So Legit? sheds light on the mysterious origins and operations of a private company that publishes mostly unsolicited ratings of online pharmacies. Facts revealed in the article suggest that its founder, John Horton, may have misused his role in the Bush White House to set up LegitScript, and why his real mission may be to help pharmaceutical clients stop consumer access to pharmacies that offer lower prices on medication.
Also posted is Checking the Pharmacy Checkers: Comparison of Groups Evaluating Online Pharmacies. This piece summarizes the critical differences among PharmacyChecker.com, the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites program run by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, LegitScript, and the Canadian International Pharmacy Association. It highlights the fact that NABP/VIPPS and LegitScript exclude non-U.S. pharmacies and suggests the motivations behind their policies.
A fourth article, Drug Price S.O.S - 120 Million Americans Struggle to Afford Medicine, outlines the staggering problem we now face with high drug prices and recommends strategies for saving money on prescription medication, such as those in PharmacyChecker.com's Safe Strategies for Drug Savings.
Gabriel Levitt, Vice President of PharmacyChecker.com, said, "The verified and licensed pharmacies found on our site and bearing our seal are a lifeline to many Americans struggling to afford prescription drugs. The blog allows us to go a step further to combat pharmaceutical industry-planted misinformation and share insights on topics related to drug prices, online pharmacies and personal drug importation. Americans should be able to take full advantage of prescription savings to be found here at home where, according to our drug price comparisons, the lowest prices on generics are to be found, as well as in other countries where brand name drug prices are often 70% lower than in the U.S."
PharmacyChecker.com operates the largest independent verification service of U.S. and foreign online pharmacies. Its pharmacy ratings are used by consumers seeking to find reputable online pharmacies and by search engines to qualify online pharmacy advertisers. It also provides one of the largest drug price comparison tools which is free to consumers.
PharmacyChecker.com is a privately held company based in New York. It has no ownership in or from companies that sell or distribute pharmacy products.
