Fake pharmacy crackdown

The future lies in having a code of conduct for online pharmacies, says Puneet Mehrotra.

“Software Giant, Microsoft and drug company Pfizer are taking aim at those advertisements for fake Viagra that constantly flood in-boxes. The two companies yesterday announced they had filed 17 lawsuits against online pharmacies they say sent hundreds of millions of unwanted e-mail ads, or Spam, to users of Microsoft's Hotmail e-mail program last year alone. Pfizer and Microsoft filed parallel lawsuits against two international Web sites -- CanadianPharmacy and E-Pharmacy Direct -- that sell illegal versions of Pfizer's Viagra. The companies claim they hope to lower the number of junk mails people receive in their inboxes. With health, sexual aid drugs and pornography being the most popular subjects for spam messages. "If you've ever received unwanted spam, you've probably received spam about Viagra," said Microsoft attorney Aaron Kornblum.

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The actions, based on the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, are the latest move by Microsoft to stem the tide of unwanted spam.

The Menace

The volume of the emails I receive are on the rise. Interestingly spammers aren’t yet sure about my gender so at any given day around 40% of my spam, consisting of around 200 emails, is about Viagra and its other avatars. The spammers haven’t stopped at just the erectile mechanism. I also receive trash consisting of bust enhancing drugs, sleep inducing drugs besides some heavy duty sounding names like Cialis, Vioxx, Vicodin and several others.

The Sufferers

The Email Recipient

The biggest sufferer is the email recipient for receiving half baked information on some drug claiming to be something else. Besides that the precious resources and time of the email recipient are wasted in sifting thru emails and searching for the ones that matter.

The Patient

A patient is a vulnerable person. Imagine the psyche of a person who, let’s say, suffers from a certain disorder. He is already going through much mental trauma and is extremely vulnerable. Then comes this piece of trashy email promising him to treat something and claiming the drug to something it is not. In other words this piece of electronic trash is almost committing man-slaughter.

The Real Pharmacy websites

Of course, there a hundreds of genuine online pharmacies which are definitely needed in the distribution chain. But alas! A few bad fish are causing a bad name to the community.

What’s Next

I guess the future lies in having a code of conduct for online pharmacies. It could include sample testing of the drugs they are selling or an agency to verify their claims. Online pharmacies have a definite place on the web and are indeed required. As e-commerce evolves so will this particular sector. Online pharmacies have a definite place on the web. If Verisign can provide a certificate for worthiness about an e-commerce site why can’t a similar mechanism be adopted for the online pharmacies. It will be a win-win situation, the genuine online pharmacies can sell their drugs and the customers get an easy access to their dose.

Puneet Mehrotra is a web strategist at www.Cyberzest.com and edits www.MidnightEdition.com. You can email him on ebiz333@yahoo.coms