[lbo-talk] Internet scams

[John Thornton]

Matt wrote:
>> 3. Prescription, sex performance or narcotic drugs offers (will I be grossly
>> overcharged, get fake drugs, or nothing at all? - or perhaps a narc squad
>> busting my door?)
>>     
>
> Grossly overcharged and possibly receive fake drugs.  Most of these
> sites issue you a "prescription" by having you fill out a form that is
> "reviewed by a doctor" [instantly, apparently].
Most drugs sold via the internet, even controlled substances like 
Oxycotin, deliver the actual drugs being advertised.
There is no reason to substitute fake drugs. Fake drugs are not unknown 
but make up a statistically insignificant portion of internet drug sales.
The term grossly overcharged is inaccurate as well.
Have you seen the list price on Imitrex? While my co-pay is only $25 
with a legitimate script if I had no insurance and was buying it myself 
outright it would be less expensive to trash my legitimate script and 
buy from an online source. My local pharmacies charge much more than 
online retailers. Ask your pharmacies their retail price on Viagra. I 
guarantee you can get a better price online. Same for Imitrex, Tramadol, 
and many other drugs.
Drugs like Lortab, which are quite inexpensive at a pharmacy even 
without insurance, are not markedly more expensive online. The issue 
here is getting the script. You can shop around until you find a doctor 
willing to write it or go online and find one much more quickly and at 
virtually no cost. Office visits are not free and are money wasted if 
you are only looking for a script for a painkiller.
There are too many sellers online to allow many companies to gouge their 
customers. These companies rely on repeat business a great deal. Buy 
from one once and I will guarantee they will send you many emails and 
leave you many phone messages trying to get your repeat business.

Yes, an online consultation is usually instant and the drugs are also 
generally shipped next day FedEx or UPS. There is nothing illegal or 
legally questionable about this.
For overseas orders the greatest risk is confiscation.
When you buy drugs from overseas they come in the same packages as their 
American counterparts and are sealed by the manufacturer.
Drug sales on the internet are almost never a scam in any real sense of 
the word. You will get what you pay for unless confiscated by customs. 
Your chances of getting a fake drug are exceedingly slim. Quality 
control problems at the shippers end occasionally mean you may receive 
the wrong drug but it will almost always be packaged so that it is 
obvious. Usually this means you get Viagra instead of Cialis or 
Phentermine instead of Tramadol. The company will usually correct the 
error when notified by sending the correct product and issuing a call 
tag for the incorrect item.

Drug sales online do not belong in the same category as internet scams. 
You are simply buying a product thats distribution is heavily controlled 
through a different source that almost always legally avoids much of 
those controls.
Since you write "instantly apparently" you don't seem to have much 
firsthand knowledge of how internet drug sales actually work. Have you 
personally investigated internet drug sales or are you repeating what 
others have told you?
I have helped literally hundreds of people with internet drug sales when 
traditional channels were either closed to them because of their 
economic situation or else they simply wished to avoid doctors, 
pharmacists, etc. for other reasons. If you placed 100 orders with 100 
randomly chosen internet drug selling sites you would either get all 100 
orders filled properly or else 99 of them filled properly.

John Thornton

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