House passes online pharmacy bill to halt illegal sale of pharmaceuticals

WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is hailing passage by the House of Representatives of legislation to clamp down on illegal online pharmacies.

On Tuesday, the House passed the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, also known as H.R. 6353. The bill, introduced in the House in June by Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak, would require a valid prescription for the purchase or distribution of any prescription drug over the Internet, issued by a prescribing physician or other qualified professional who has personally examined the patient. It would exempt remote-site pharmacies that operate under approved “telemedicine” procedures.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where passage could be accomplished in short order, since the Senate passed a version of the same bill in April.

“NACDS applauds the House for passing this bill, and we look forward to its quick passage in the Senate,” said NACDS president and CEO Steven Anderson today. A growing number of websites, he added, “masquerade as legitimate pharmacies, luring consumers into schemes to obtain medications without a prescription or a valid patient-prescriber relationship. These ‘rogue’ Web sites threaten the health and safety of consumers.

“H.R. 6353 would establish effective policies to curb these websites and to prevent them from selling controlled substances,” Anderson added. At the same time, he said, the bill “recognizes … legitimate operations and would not interfere with the important services and products that our members offer online.”