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Search Terms: internet w/10 prescription, House or Senate or Joint

Document 10 of 60.

March 21, 2000, Tuesday

SECTION: PREPARED TESTIMONY

LENGTH: 607 words

HEADLINE: PREPARED TESTIMONY OF CHAIRMAN JAMES M. JEFFORDS (R-VT)

BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS

BODY:
Good Morning. Welcome to the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee's hearing on "E-Drugs: Who Regulates Internet Pharmacies?"

We are all well aware that the internet explosion commerce has put all manner of goods and services literally at our fingertips. Health care products and prescription drugs are no different. With the ever- increasing cost of prescription drugs, Americans are turning to internet pharmacies to try to find savings. Since this is the first hearing in the HELP committee on this issue, I hope this hearing will give Members of the Committee an overview of the advantages and dangers of purchasing pharmacy products over the internet, as well as a picture of what we can and should be doing to protect Americans from these dangers. The advantages of using internet pharmacies are similar to those of many other commerce sites. Lower prices on certain prescription drugs can be found, but these savings are not across the board. Access to pharmacy products over the internet can also be very convenient, particularly for Americans living in rural areas, since products can be ordered 24 hours a day, and can be delivered directly to patients doors. Another advantage may be the ready access to health information, including buying guides, wellness guides, and in depth information on prescription drugs.

But there are also very serious potential dangers with purchasing prescription drugs online. In search of lower-priced prescription drugs, Americans can, unwittingly, order prescription drugs from rogue web sites that appear to be American-based companies, but are actually overseas sites offering low-priced prescription drugs that are unapproved, counterfeit, contaminated, expired, mislabeled, manufactured in unapproved facilities, or not stored or handled in proper manner. U.S. Customs has reported a 450% increase in seizure of illicit pharmaceuticals from 1998 to 1999.Other concerns are raised by some rogue sites that offer physician examinations, prescriptions, and dispensing pharmaceuticals - all online. These practices raise many questions for patients: Is the "E-physician" on the other end really a doctor? Is the "E-pharmacist" really a pharmacist? Without a face-to- face visit, can a doctor really observe a patient for other physical signs that would be important for proper diagnosis or to signal drug reaction problems?

Questions have also been raised with regard to licensure and confidentiality of the health care information that is transmitted over the internet in order to fill a patient prescription.

I believe legitimate internet pharmacies that operate legally and ethically can offer valuable services to many Americans and have a important role in E-commerce. But we must also consider the possible disadvantages: How great is the danger presented by rogue internet operators who offer dangerous products to vulnerable patients? Can the current regulatory system protect American consumers from illegal and unethical behavior that can endanger patients' lives? Can patients circumvent our system of protections against self-diagnosis and self- medication? We need to work together to figure out the size and nature of the problems presented by internet pharmacies, and what we can do to solve them. We also need to educate the public to always be careful and alert when using the internet to buy products as important as prescription drugs. By holding this hearing today, I hope we can make progress in these areas.

Today, I am glad to hear from a number of witnesses who are already making progress in this area, and I look forward to their testimony.

END

LOAD-DATE: March 23, 2000

Document 10 of 60.


Search Terms: internet w/10 prescription, House or Senate or Joint
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