Buyer Beware: The Danger of Purchasing Pharmaceuticals over the Internet – Day 2
Federal and Private Sector Responses

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations had is second day of hearings on the danger of purchasing pharmaceuticals over the Internet on July 22, 2004.  The Subcommittee held its first hearing on this issue on June 17, 2004. 

The Subcommittee hearings examined the extent to which consumers can purchase pharmaceuticals over the Internet without a medical prescription, the importation of pharmaceuticals into the United States, and whether the pharmaceuticals from foreign sources are counterfeit, expired, unsafe, or illegitimate. In addition, the Subcommittee hearings examined the extent to which U.S. consumers can purchase dangerous and often addictive controlled substances from Internet pharmacy websites and the procedures utilized by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Service, and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the private sector to address these issues.