We all know that you can woo a spouse, trade your stocks, or snag a Furby on the Web. But did you know you could also pick up prescription medications, like Viagra, via click-through pharmacies?

Even though the Web may deliver this generations’ version of housecalls, the virtual patient-provider relationship raises many questions not readily answerable with existing laws. For example, can a prescription ethically or legally be written solely on the basis of a consumer’s online request? And are online medical consultations stretching beyond the boundary of current pharmacy and medical practice acts?

In a three part series, NurseWeek explores these and other issues raised by the growing number of Web sites selling prescription meds to the public. In Part 1, we show you just how easy it is to buy medication online without a prescription, and we talk to a pharmacist who operates such a site. In Part 2, we discuss the ethical and legal ramifications of virtual patient-provider interactions. In Part 3, we look at the guidelines some healthcare sites have set for themselves and talk to sites that have shied away from direct online consultations.

PART 1
Buying Viagra without really trying >>>

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