Details

Subject(s)

• Internet pharmacies [Browse]
• Consumer protection [Browse]
• Public health—Government policy [Browse]

Author

• Jin, Ginger Zhe [Browse]
• Mathur, Aparna [Browse]

Series

Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; Number 17955. [More in this series]

Summary note

In an audit study, we acquire samples of five popular brand-name prescription drugs from three types of online pharmacies: tier 1 are US-based and certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) or LegitScript.com, tier 2 are certified by PharmacyChecker.com or the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) but not by NABP or LegitScript, tier 3 are not certified by any of the four agencies. Most tier 2 and tier 3 websites are foreign. Using Raman spectrometry test, we find no failure of authenticity in tier 1 or tier 2, the only failures are Viagra from tier-3 websites. Except for Viagra, tier 1 websites on average charge 51% more than tier 2 sites in final price. In addition, we conduct a survey of buyers of prescription drugs. Results show that 61.54% of respondents do purchase drugs online and mostly from foreign websites, citing cost saving as the leading reason. These findings confirm the FDA warning against rogue websites but suggest that a blanket warning against foreign websites may deny consumers substantial savings from certified tier 2 websites.

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