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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2004 SCHUMER REVEALS: 50 ILLICIT INTERNET SITES ARE SELLING DANGEROUS DRUGS TO NEW YORKERS WITHOUT PRESCRIPTIONS Hospitalizations and deaths mount as teens and adults get dangerous drugs like Oxycontin and Valium online illegally and without a prescription Schumer proposes $10 million joint FDA-DOJ task force to chase down illegal website operators and asks FDA to create seal-of-approval system so consumers know their online pharmacies are safe and law enforcement knows which ones to target US Senator Charles E. Schumer on Sunday will release a new study that identifies 50 illicit Internet pharmacies that are selling narcotics and other dangerous drugs to New Yorkers without prescriptions or without having licenced pharmacists on staff. With estimated sales from these websites in the tens of millions of dollars, Schumer will propose a $10 million joint US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) task force to go after these website operators. Schumer will also ask the FDA to quickly develop and implement a "seal of approval" system so customers know they are purchasing from legitimate online pharmacies and law enforcement can target the ones that aren't legitimate. "Everyone knows that the information superhighway has revolutionized life in America, but there is a dark and seedy side of the street," Schumer said. "If drug dealers came into our neighborhood selling this medication, we'd want to take up arms against them, and we should do no less if they come into our homes via the internet." Internet pharmacies have become a virtually unregulated pipeline for highly addictive painkillers, tranquilizers and anti-depressants that have resulted in dozens of overdoses and deaths in New York and across the country. Website operators who may not have a licenced pharmacist on staff dispense dangerous medications like Oxycontin, Percocet, and Valium to people who may not have a valid prescription for these drugs. Sales of Oxycontin are particularly dangerous because people crush the medicine to get rid of the time-release coating on the pills, then snort the power for a quick, intense, and relatively cheap high that often proves fatal. Three years ago this month, 18 year old Ryan Haight of La Mesa California died in from an overdose from drugs mixed with painkiller he bought without a prescription from internet pharmacy based in Oklahoma. In September 2001, 30 year old Douglas Townsend of Aiken County, South Carolina died in after he drove his car into a tree after taking tranquilizer he bought from internet pharmacy based in Arizona. And last April, James Lewis, 47, of Sacramento California died from an overdose of painkillers bought from an internet pharmacy. There are many legitimate internet pharmacies like www.drugstore.com
and www.accuratepharmacy.com Only 14 internet pharmacies have secured VIPPS approval, meaning that the overwhelming majority of online drug stores do not offer a meaningful way of assuring people that the drugs they sell are safe, approved, and appropriate for their particular illnesses. Experts at the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy have identified between 400 and 500 illicit internet pharmacies, but because after they are created many exist for only a few days before they are pulled down, it is a difficult number to track. Schumer today released a study listing 50 online pharmacies that do not provide legitimate assurances that their products are safe. Schumer warned New Yorkers against using internet pharmacies that do not display the VIPPS logo or some other indication that they have a certified physician-patient relationship endorsed by the American Medical Association. He also said online pharmacies should verify that they meet state and federal guidelines for their operations – and they should tell consumers under whose laws they fall so customers can make informed choices. Schumer today wrote to US DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy and US FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan to set up a task force that could work across state lines to pursue and prosecute the operators of these websites. Schumer estimates that such a task force would cost $10 million. Schumer also asked the US Food and Drug Administration to create "seal of approval" systems similar to VIPPS as quickly as possible to ensure consumers that they will get the drugs they ordered in a process overseen by licenced and trained pharmacists working in consultation with licenced physicians, only with a valid prescription. Legitimate online pharmacies would be able to display the logo prominently on their websites, so customers will know to avoid sites where the logo does not appear. And Schumer asked the FDA to work with its Canadian counterpart, Health Canada, to develop reciprocal internet pharmacy standards so that together, the United States and Canada can ensure consumers have the tools they need to make safe and affordable pharmaceutical purchases. The FDA and DEA would also monitor drugstore websites carefully to ensure that the logo is not misused, and would share the information about fraudulent use with the public via their own websites as well as with other federal, state, and local law enforcement. As important, federal, state, and local law enforcement will be able to target websites that don't have the logos, rather than waste valuable resources pursuing legitimate online pharmacies. "We learned from Spam that it's not easy to fight an online adversary, but these rogue pharmacies bypass the safety mechanisms trusted by trained doctors and pharmacists and endanger the lives of Americans, and it's time for the Federal government to step up the effort to shut them down,"Schumer said. Schumer was joined today by Robert Strang, a former DEA Agent who now runs the Investigative Management Group in New York City. Rogue Internet Pharmacy Websites http://e-scripts.md
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