INTERNET DRUG SALES CONFOUND REGULATORS

Health: People can get powerful prescriptions without doctor approval. But
they are risking their lives, FDA official warns. From Associated Press

WASHINGTON--With a few computer keystrokes--and without ever seeing a
doctor--Americans can buy powerful prescription drugs, including some not
approved for sale in this country.

Supporters say consumers are savvy enough to buy medicines over the
Internet. But health experts fear that the growing trend could endanger
patients and even kill some. Several states are investigating Web sites, and
the Drug Enforcement Administration has raided at least one Internet doctor
as the government struggles with how to control drugs in cyberspace here and
abroad.

"Consumers are taking a huge risk. . . . They may be risking their lives,"
warns William Hubbard of the Food and Drug Administration. "We're very
concerned about this."

Yet some state regulators say they've never heard of the Web sites that post
such ads as: "Need Viagra? No prescription? No problem!"

How easy are such purchases? An Associated Press reporter bought from a
British Web site a controversial diet drug that the U.S. government has not
yet decided is safe. The unmarked brown envelope bearing a month's supply of
Xenical cleared U.S. Customs. The unseen British pharmacist had no way to
know that the reporter had exaggerated her weight by 30 pounds to qualify
for the drug.

A Viagra site promised to ship the little blue impotence pill after an AP
reporter answered just one health question--and disclosed that she is a
woman.

"That's very, very dangerous," said consumer advocate Dr. Sidney Wolfe of
Public Citizen, saying both were drugs for which the "patient" did not
medically qualify.

"There is a reason that some of these drugs have to be prescribed," added
Larry Lessly, director of Nevada's Board of Medical Examiners, which
recently barred over-the-Internet sales unless Nevada doctors see the
patients. "People shouldn't just willy-nilly take them."

Colorado publicly reprimanded one doctor for selling Viagra over the
Internet; Connecticut, Wyoming and Nevada ordered one Web site to stop
selling in those states, and at least eight other states are investigating
complaints.

North Carolina is probing Web sales of a computer program that teaches
patients to diagnose their own problems and then pick a medication from
foreign Web sites.

The government determines which drugs need prescriptions--because they're
for serious medical problems and can cause serious side effects.

Yet U.S. Web sites tout Viagra, highly risky for certain men; Valtrex, which
treats genital herpes but can kill patients with weak immune systems;
Meridia, a diet drug that requires doctor monitoring because it can raise
blood pressure; and the diet drug phentermine, a controlled substance
considered dangerous to some.

Foreign sites offer stimulants, tranquilizers, antidepressants, antibiotics
and drugs for epilepsy, dementia and hypertension.

Pharmacist William Stallknecht, who runs a popular Web site from his Pill
Box Pharmacy in San Antonio, says patients should be free to choose certain
drugs without the hassle or embarrassment of in-person doctor visits.

"Patients have rights," said Stallknecht, who sells Viagra, the
anti-baldness pill Propecia and the antihistamine Claritin over the
Internet. "We take the care necessary" by requiring online health
questionnaires reviewed by doctors.

But critics say online questionnaires can't substitute for a doctor's exam.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst