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Many people go down to their neighborhood pharmacies to get their prescriptions filled; however, there are people nationwide who turn to online pharmacies to fill their drugs. While many online pharmacies are responsible, legal entities, there are some online pharmacies that participate in unsafe practices and are illegal. In fact, there are many online pharmacies that deliver drugs to patients nationwide without valid prescriptions. These sites simply require customers to fill out online forms without collecting prescriptions.
As a result of bad online pharmacy practices, federal investigators have made arrests, shut down websites, and have even involved and accused large companies like FedEx, UPS, and Google. Recently, FedEx is being accused of conspiring with illegal online pharmacies to ship medications to people who lacked valid prescriptions. However, the company is fighting this accusation by saying it would have had to invade customers’ privacy to stop such deliveries.
According to a KTUL news story, UPS had to pay $40 million last year for similar allegations and had to work with investigators to alert the government of suspicious activity. Even Google paid $500 million because they accepted advertisement money from illegal online pharmacies. Since the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is going after large companies to try and stop the bad Internet pharmacies, it raises the question of pharmacy laws throughout the United States.
Because FedEx is not in the business of law enforcement and cannot open every package that comes its way for delivery, do you think it’s their duty to uncover illegal online pharmacies? Let us know what you think. Although there aren’t any laws at this time against you ordering your prescriptions from online pharmacies, it is wise to ensure you are not ordering from an online pharmacy participating in illegal activity.