'Net drugs: Surfing for trouble?

Got Viagra? If not, you may be surprised to find that you can purchase it on the Internet with the completion of a simple electronic questionnaire. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Jane Henney addressed the online accessibility of prescription drugs and other public health issues in her lecture entitled "e-Regulation and Public Health: FDA in the Information Age" on Friday. The seminar, held in the Clinical Research Building, was the first in a year-long Health Policy Seminar series, "From e-Commerce to e-Healthcare" sponsored by the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. On its Web site, the FDA estimates that there may be as many as 1,000 sites that sell prescription drugs. Many of these sites are legitimate pharmacies licensed at the state level, but others offer prescriptions for FDA-approved drugs without a face-to-face physician consultation. Drugs not approved in the United States -- or anywhere, for that matter -- are also available. "The emerging Internet technology will continue to present an array of very complex and important opportunities and challenges," Henney told the packed auditorium of about 200 industry types, students and faculty members. Henney said the "increased privacy of the transaction" allowed by the Internet may explain some of the popularity of "lifestyle" drugs such as Viagra, Propecia for hair loss and Xenical for weight loss. But patients with limited access to pharmacies because of location or disability may also be motivated to shop online. Even beyond the issue of online drug sales, many Web users regularly access the Internet for health-related information. So how does the FDA protect these users from serious illness caused by bad online medical advice or by the misuse of drugs purchased online? The FDA, Henney said, has taken the initiative in reporting "rogue" Internet sites on its own Web page, as well as by providing product approval information and Public Health alert information. "The Internet provides an efficient way for the Agency to be more open and transparent in its work," Henney said. The FDA has requested $10 million to specifically "enhance the FDA's enforcement capabilities," Henney said, which would allow the agency to "identify, investigate and prosecute operators of Web sites selling prescription drugs without a valid prescription" among other offenses. Currently, no international treaties regulating online drug sales exist. Alexa Edwards, a first-year Medical student who attended the lecture, expressed concern that the sale of prescriptions online held a "large potential for abuse." Although these online transactions went along with "the trend of a more high-tech way of doing things," Edwards said, "there is no substitute for a visit with a physician." Penn is affiliated with several highly regarded healthcare advice Web sites, including Oncolink, sponsored by the Health System's Cancer Center. This site recently received Forbes magazine's "Best of the Web" award in the Health category.