Regulators press forward to fight drug counterfeiting and illicit dispensing

The years-long battle to control illicit drug dispensing, including counterfeit drugs, has some new progress to report. The National Assn. of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), which is the professional organization of US state pharmacy regulators, has issued a new ‘Internet Drug Outlet … Progress Report,” finding that out of 11,415 internet drug outlets (NABP doesn’t want to characterize them as “pharmacies”), 96% continue to be out of compliance with state, federal or NABP laws and standards. The majority of “not recommended” sites by NABP continue to dispense prescription drugs without a valid prescription. Only about 14% of the outlets have an identified location inside the US (which is a federal requirement), although, interestingly, over half of them have a server inside the US. In theory, that puts the sites within reach of FDA and others, but policing these sites is a neverending process.