LegitScript

If you’re a frequent visitor, you might notice that we’ve updated the data that appears on our home page, describing how many Internet pharmacies there are, how many are legitimate (or rogue), and that sort of thing. We get a lot of questions from policymakers, companies and everyday Internet users: How many Internet pharmacies are there? What percentage are legitimate? LegitScript’s database is, as far as we know, the largest database of Internet pharmacies (non-spam ones in particular) in... Read Full Story

Amid all of the holiday cheer, family, friends, and food that surround us at this time of year, it can be easy to get caught up in the end of year rush. But, it’s also a good time to take a moment and reflect on the year gone by. It’s been a busy year here at LegitScript, and we wanted to take this opportunity to slow down and think about some of the non-profit, open source organizations that have an impact on what we do. Whether that impact is to facilitate our work by providing free... Read Full Story

An OpEd featured in yesterday’s Washington Times speaks to the continued dangers posed by rogue online pharmacies. The piece tells the story of three patients harmed by the drugs they purchased online from unlicensed, unregulated “pharmacies”. One patient died. This is a good reminder to all of us here at LegitScript that there is still work to be done to protect patient safety when it comes to buying medications online. For US citizens who want to purchase medications online, LegitScript’s... Read Full Story

Mention antitrust at a cocktail party, and you’ll probably end up drinking alone. But antitrust has important implications for consumers: “monopolistic behavior” — that is, the type of control that a company with excessive market share can exercise over thatmarket — is bad for consumers in that it artificially drives up prices and deprives them of choice. The market for prescription drugs is no exception: as with any industry, competition among pharmacies helps to keep prices as low as... Read Full Story

A few days ago, we blogged about inaccurate information posted on  chantix-buy.com , a self-described affiliate of long-time rogue Internet pharmacy atlanticdrugs.com . Just a few hours after we posted this information, both websites were taken offline, and atlanticdrugs.com ‘s domain name registration information was edited. The background. AtlanticDrugs.com , which has long been a highly visible Internet pharmacy, initially was an affiliate of Health Express , an unapproved affiliate... Read Full Story

If you’re an Internet pharmacy and are on LegitScript’s “rogue” (or, alternatively, “unapproved”) Internet pharmacy list, how can you get off it? It’s not hard. You just need to be in compliance with the laws and regulations where you operate, and anywhere that you offer to ship prescription drugs to. Let’s say that you are licensed as a pharmacy and operating legally in the United Kingdom, India, China or wherever, but not in the United States and Italy. If the US and Italy are provided... Read Full Story

LegitScript is a great place to work, and we’re hiring! We’re looking for creative (quirky, even) people to help us make sense of the murky and fascinating world of pharmaceutical and drug-related cybercrime. Right now, we’re hiring for four positions, three of which are software engineer/developer types, and one of which is an entry-level analyst position. About LegitScript LegitScript is based in Portland, Oregon, which is known for its overall livability; great coffee and local... Read Full Story

LegitScript has designated chantix-buy.com as a rogue Internet pharmacy. Among many other reasons, the website is falsely implying that compliant with standards required by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). The NABP is the impartial organization that represents pharmacy regulators (Boards and Colleges of Pharmacy) in the US, Canada and their counterparts in some Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions. The NABP operates the gold-standard for Internet pharmacy... Read Full Story

A USAToday article referenced a 33 Drugs marketing affiliate, bestcds.info , in discussing rogue online pharmacies. As we commonly see, “Carl” of bestcds.info claimed that his website was legitimate: “…a representative from one U.K. and Canadian-based online pharmacy, BestCDS.info , maintained its products were legitimate, and said it required faxed prescriptions from consumers. The manager, who said his name was Carl, said customers were mainly concerned about whether they would receive... Read Full Story

Note : This blog was originally posted on CircleID.com , a popular blog and forum dealing with Internet infrastructure. In the wake of Google’s  settlement with the Department of Justice for permitting advertising by illegal online pharmacies, what are the legal implications for Domain Name Registrars and ISPs in the US and elsewhere? In short, if you’re a Registrar or ISP, it’s a new ballgame. Here’s why it’s critical for you to steer clear of criminal and civil liability by making sure... Read Full Story