There are many things that smart consumers concern themselves with whenever they order medicine online. While the Internet is a convenient place to seek out things like prescription medication without having to leave the comfort of one’s home, there is another side to things. The Internet, unlike the real world, is not regulated by any authority and, by nature, can be almost impossible to effectively police. There are numerous ways that even the most effective monitoring authority can fail, not the least of which are questions of jurisdiction that arise due to the Internet’s nature. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration has given a few bits of helpful advice for anyone who plans to order medicine online.
The first bit of advice is that consumers should be wary of sites that sell drugs that are illegal offline. This can appear in a number of ways, such as when the medication in question is illegal in the US, but not in other countries. This can sometimes be the case for some antidepressants, anti-impotence drugs, and weight loss products. Other times, the medication in question could be considered illegal in most countries. In such a case, the website is...