INTERNET PHARMACY CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 1999 -- HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN (Extensions of Remarks - August 05, 1999)

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HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN OF CALIFORNIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1999

Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues, RON KLINK, JOHN DINGELL, and BART STUPAK, in introducing the Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 1999.

While the Internet is transforming global finance and culture, it is also raising novel questions about the practices of medicine and pharmacy. There is no question that the World Wide Web and other forms of e-commerce have facilitated consumer access to health information and products. Patients clearly benefit from the rapid dissemination of reliable medical knowledge, and from novel, convenient ways of receiving health care.

But unwary consumers are also increasingly exposed to fraud or quackery from anonymous, unaccountable vendors. Illegal, unsafe or unapproved drugs and dietary supplements are more widely available than ever. Hundreds of offshore and domestic ``pill mills'' dispense Viagra or Xenical to patients sight unseen--as well as to shorthair cats, the deceased, and patients with life-threatening counterindicated health conditions, as an investigation by WWMT of Kalamazoo, Michigan discovered.

On July 30, the Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on online pharmacies. We heard a clear message from the testimony of Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Justice, state authorities like the Texas Department of Health, and investigative media--regulators simply cannot enforce existing laws to protect consumers from illegal online pharmacies unless they know who is responsible and where they are.

The Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 1999 requires very simple disclosures from online pharmacies. Tell us your name and place of business. Tell us where your pharmacy is licensed. And tell us where your online physician, if any, is licensed. That's all.

With this basic information, regulators are hamstrung. No enforcement is possible or requires unsustainable commitments of limited law enforcement resources. But enactment of and compliance with this legislation would quickly separate legitimate from illegitimate online pharmacies.

Failure to comply with these minimal requirements would also help warn consumers from questionable websites. In fact, Congress
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and the Administration are already aggressively encouraging responsible online businesses to provide comparable disclosures regarding their privacy policies. The lack of licensure and privacy information at an online pharmacy should provide a clear warning of caveat emptor.

Nor does this legislation pose a technical barrier to e-commerce. It only asks online pharmacies to provide the same licensure information as brick and mortar pharmacies do when they hang framed licenses on the wall. It is a simple matter to add a few new links to online pharmacy sites. In fact, any person with rudimentary knowledge of HTML could write up the necessary information and upload it to a website in a matter of minutes.

The Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 1999 is a simple and common-sense way to help federal and state authorities enforce existing consumer and public health protections. Responsible online pharmacies are likely already in compliance with the legislation, or could be in a matter of minutes. But illegal, unprofessional or questionable online pharmacies will be exposed to greater scrutiny and more susceptible to the enforcement of essential legal protections and State licensure requirements.

I urge my colleagues to join us in cosponsoring the Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 1999.
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