Foreign Internet Pharmacies

The Regulation of Foreign Internet Pharmacies

As the number and use of foreign Internet pharmacies increases, regulators are struggling to find an effective means of controlling their activity and the involvement of the increasing number of consumers wanting to purchase a prescription drug online. The lawmakers options are:

1. to regulate the activity of the foreign pharmacies 
2. to regulate the activity of their potential customers 
3. to regulate the activity of both the foreign Internet pharmacies and the customers

However foreign pharmacies are by definition beyond the national boundaries of the customers they serve, and therefore outside of the jurisdiction of regulators in the customer's country. This means that the consumer becomes the target of controls. However they are objecting, and the politicians are on their side!
(read about it on our International Online Pharmacy page).

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Generally your right to buy a prescription drug online is controlled by the jurisdiction in which the product is sold, that is the location of the foreign pharmacies. If it is legal for the foreign pharmacies to sell a product they offer over the Internet then you are perfectly entitled to buy it. Your right to receive and/or use the product is however determined by your local jurisdiction (that is the laws and regulations in your country). This simple guideline can however be complicated when foreign internet pharmacies sell drugs which require no prescription in their country, yet do in the customers country. Or when this situation is reversed and no prescription is required in the customer's country yet one is required in the suppliers country. Confused ?? That’s not surprising!

From a practical perspective customers need not concern themselves about the law in the supplier's country. That is the foreign pharmacies concern. The only real issue is what your country’s laws allow. If the product you order is a prescription medicine in your country, you must have a prescription for it. Most countries around the world do have regulations which allow its citizens to import prescription medicines for “personal use”. This is usually determined by the quantity (typically a supply for no more than 3 months normal use is allowed). Without such a provision all prescription drugs would need to be declared, and duty applied when individuals travelled internationally and this would be an administrative nightmare.

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In a world where the cost of the same prescription medicine can vary enormously from country to country, there is increasing pressure being placed on politicians by consumers to pass laws which will allow them to purchase a prescription drug online. Consumers see no reason why they should be paying so much more for the same drug than citizens of neighbouring countries. Particularly when ordering a prescription drug online at a significant discount is easier than ever with the growth in the number of foreign pharmacies now operating on the Internet. (In 2000 an FDA report estimated there were 300-400 foreign Internet pharmacies. More recent estimates are that there are now over double this number.)

In the U.S the high price of drugs has resulted in explosive growth in the use of foreign pharmacies. At first it was those living close to the borders who travelled to Canada or Mexico to purchase pharmaceuticals. Now those not able to make this trip are using foreign Internet pharmacies to purchase their prescription drug online. A recent report by Forrester Research estimated that purchases through online pharmacies would rise to $15 billion by 2004 and that Internet ordering of prescription drugs online would grow from 1% to 9% of the U.S. pharmaceutical market over the next 3 years.

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Value Pharmaceuticals is a service that allows customers to use foreign pharmacies and save significantly on their drug purchases. We specialize in brand name medicines that are researched, manufactured and marketed by leading, international pharmaceutical companies. Our goal is to provide customers with the highest quality products at a significant cost saving.

All of the brand name products offered are sourced from developed western countries with highly regarded drug regulatory systems. They are the same brand name medicines found in all the major pharmaceutical markets around the world and are manufactured by the same multinational pharmaceutical companies, applying the same good manufacturing practices. The only difference is the price!

In response to ongoing requests from our regular customers, we recently added a select number of generic medicines to our product range so additional savings could be made. Value Pharmaceuticals pharmacies source high quality generic products only from pharmaceutical manufacturers that comply with strict international regulatory standards. This means that Value Pharmaceuticals customers have the assurance of receiving products that meet internationally recognised quality standards.

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To read more about generic medicines, please click here