Different sites use the principle of online medical consultation. This consultation is done via a health questionnaire whose answers are analyzed by certified professionals like doctors and pharmacists. Of course, nothing beats a face-to-face consultation which is often recommended on online pharmacies. But more and more of us go to the doctor for renewal, for example. In this case, the online pharmacy finds, even more, its reason for being. To buy pain medication online this is important.
Online purchase of prescription and non-prescription drugs is therefore possible and legal. The fact remains that we must remain vigilant about the chosen e-pharmacy and in particular, ensures that the logo is affixed and clickable to have legal information about the authorization. Here is a non-exhaustive list of medicines you can find online:
- Allergy medicine
- Drug against STIs
- Medication for heartburn
But watch out for forgery
Like almost all over-the-counter products, drugs can also be counterfeit and there is a parallel market that is unfortunately very active.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines fake medicine as an imitation: A counterfeit medicine is a drug that is deliberately and fraudulently labeled with no indication of its identity and true source. It may be a specialty or a generic product, and some of the counterfeit products contain the right ingredients or bad ingredients, or no active ingredient, and there are others where the active ingredient is in insufficient quantity or whose packaging has been falsified.
Counterfeiting and drug trafficking are real scourges that are gaining momentum. And as for all counterfeits, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between a real and fake medicine. Also, back to what we mentioned earlier. You must make sure that the online pharmacy is reliable. In this case, the origin of the drugs is specified.
How is an order placed on sites authorized to sell prescription drugs?
Once you’ve made sure the online pharmacy is reliable and you’re signed in:
- You are looking for your medicine.
- Once you have chosen the drug, you are referred to an online medical questionnaire.
You are asked to fill in this questionnaire: it is an online consultation. Medical questionnaires are developed jointly by physicians and pharmacists. They have between 15 and 20 questions and last almost 3 minutes. You may be offered the opportunity to share your order with your doctor.
The questionnaire is then sent to a registered doctor who, depending on your answers, approves the order. In some cases, the doctor may ask you to complete the consultation by asking additional questions. If necessary, an SMS or an email is sent to the patient.
In the case where the doctor does not validate the order, the service is of course not charged. In the case where the doctor validates the order, an electronic order is sent to the pharmacy. The patient is notified by SMS or email.
The order is this time analyzed by the pharmacist, who also takes a professional look. He may, in turn, refuse the order. The patient is warned. The service is not charged. If doctors and pharmacists have approved the order, the drug is prepared for shipping. The patient is informed and receives a package tracking number.
Depending on the option chosen, the delivery, at home or at a relay point, is free and the delay is usually very short (24 to 48 hours). Upon receipt of the package, a piece of identification of the patient must be presented to the deliveryman. The orders being kept, the renewal of treatment is facilitated.