FDA to Regulate Internet Drug Sales

ThatGuyAZ writes "The Clinton Administration today announced that it'll be seeking to license all internet drug sales. This seems to be the first step in sweeping the power to regulate these transactions from the states to the federal government. (States currently license pharmacists.) I know the /. libertarians want no regulation at all (right up until they receive a bad prescription themselves), but is giving this problem to the federal government really a solution? Will this soon be happening with state-based licensing of lawyers, doctors, etc.? " Very interesting application of the inter-state commerce clause, although my unschooled opinion is that it's a defensible application of said clause.

Comments

I don't think that's the point

[FascDot Killed My Pr]

I don't see how my chances of getting the wrong drug are any greater just because some verification is made that I have a prescription.

Because if you have a prescription presumably a doctor gave it to you. Assumption: A doctor is more likely to know what drug you need (if any) than a randomly selected person.

The reason this measure is necessary is that there are a lot of idiots out there who want to self-prescribe Prozac or Ridlin or Viagra or something. I think a BETTER measure would be to give the USERS licenses. Here's the kind of scheme I envision:

Person A is born and has no licenses. At age 8 he is given a test.
Tester:"Johnny, pour this hot coffee in your lap".
Johnny: "No."
Johnny then receives a "Can Eat At McDonald's" license.

The applicable test in this case would be given around age 12/13:
Tester: "Janey, take this pill."
Janey: "What does it do?"
Tester: "Cures your condition."
Janey: "What condition? And how?"
Tester: "Just take the pill."
Janey: "No."
Janey now has the "Can Purchase Prescription Drugs Without Body Cavity Search For Perscription" license.

Other licenses include:
"Can View Uncensored Internet" (test involves knowing the difference between instructions for making a bomb and a bomb itself)
"Can Play Violent Videogames" (test involves knowing the difference between fantasy and reality)
"Can Make Right Turn On Red" (test involves being able to recognize oncoming traffic)
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Re:Prescriptions should be abolished (NOT)

[AaronW]

Various drugs should indeed be restricted to prescriptions. If every time we got a sniffle and grabbed anti-biotics, whether they are needed or not (i.e. a virus) then we just encourage antibiotic-resistent bacteria (which are very nasty, as my sister just had surgery since antibiotics no longer work).

I'm sorry, but for my own health I don't want my cube neighbor going down to the local pharmacy and buying antibiotics for the flu. There are specified doses of various drugs which vary based on age, weight, and family history. If drugs were unregulated we'd have a nightmare on our hands. There'd be lots of ODs and other problems.

As for antibiotic resistant bacteria, they are becoming more and more common, especially in countries that overprescribe antibiotics.

FDA pushes internet growth out of USA

[poopie]

There's a fundamental problem here... what about every website that's run OUTSIDE OF THE USA?

I predict we'll see more and more of this internet regulation as government agencies slowly realize that they are unable to control or collect revenue from online business under the traditional, over-complicated, time-consuming, labor-intesive process.

How can you impose import restrictions, trade bans, tarrifs, sales tax, etc when you're dealing with encrypted transactions over the internet.

Most online business today chooses to voluntarily comply with various regulations, like what products ebay chooses to not auction, but if ebay chose to allow others to auction prescription or illegal drugs *and* it were located outside the US, what could be done?

Governments can make the rules, but can the rules REALLY be inforced? I bet that once governments start trying to enforce these rules, you'll see businesses move to small countries with the most free business environments.

If your entire business consists of 2 72" racks in a datacenter, and a local sysadmin, it's pretty easy to move your company to any country about as fast as you can propagate a DNS change.

The cold hard reality is that online businesses can use encryption and change location faster than government can figure out how to deciper what's going on and find a way to collect money or regulate.

Attempts to tax and regulate the internet will only end up driving out businesses from opressive countries. The interesting thing is that your company HQ can be anywhere, and your employees can be anywhere else.

Laws and regulations will divide into two types: those that are enforcable in the physical world, and those that are enforcable in the online world.

until what?

[TheCarp]

hmmm so people lik myself want no regulation
until we get a bad prescription ourselves? Hmmm
how does regulation prevent bad prescriptions?

Even without Licenceing etc all the drugs they
sell still need to be made in a manner that they
are safe to consume...if not then they are selling
dangerous product. In fact...most of the time the
drugs are made by the same manafacturer as the
normal pharmacies buy from.

Pharmacies are basically glorified pill counters
these days. Licencing doesn't prevent them from
fucking up and counting wrong. It doesn't
prevent them from picking up the wrong bottle
and giving you the wrong pills.

An online pharmacy that sold anything except what
they are advertising is still in trouble for
breaking existing laws...like say fraud.

In truth this regulation is all about control. It
is about the belief of people in the federal
government that they have the right to control
every aspect of our lives. The entire concept of
prescription drugs is founded on the idea that
citizens do not own their own bodies and do not
have the right to self medicate beyond what
Big Brother has Aproved.

Its funny how anti-drug propagandists always talk
about the "Message it sends". I don't know
about you...but I don't like the message that
these control measures send.

Re:We need less government, not more

[TheCarp]

> Pharmacists know a hell of alot more than the
> average joe about what you should and should not
> take.

Yes they do...which is why the "Average Joe"
should consult his doctor and pharmasist before
he even considers using any drug.

However what about above-average joe? How about
someone who has done personal research, read
reports, etc and decided that a drug is right
for them? What gives you or anyone else the right
to tell him that he shouldn't be able to decide
for himself? Is it not his body?

> Tell your evangelization shit to the family of
> the man who died because he bought viagra over
> the internet

How about people who took tylanol and died? Lots
of them every year. How about someone who took
a bit more nyquil then they should have and found
out the hard way that they are one of the 1%-3%
of caucasions who are missing the enzyme that
metabolizes Dextromethorphan.

The simple fact is that if you don't consult a
doctor, then its "Buyer Beware". Buying a drug
on your own means that YOU take responsibility
for making sure its not contraindicated.

Noone is to blame for the fuckup but the man
himself. He could have easily done a little
research and found out that information.

> Sure, it's his responsibility to know that, but
> not everybody is as smart as you say you are

Glad you realize that. Its why we have Darwin
Awards. If a person dies because of their own
irresponsibility, I have little pity (perhaps
for the fammily but not for him).

If you want to help out, forget regulation. Go
for Education. People SHOULD know more than they
do. Over the counter drugs account for many deaths
every year.

Believe it or not, regulation ENCOURAGES
irresponsibility. It breeds the attitude that
"Well other drugs are controlled by doctors and
pharmacists, so these must be safe if I can buy
them" so people buy them and start popping away.