Reliable online pharmacies with consults?

October 12, 2010 12:13 PM

Looking for an online pharmacy that is not likely to sell sugar pills instead of real meds, and offers online consultations.

I have an internet friend stuck in the armpit of rural Arizona who is suffering from an anxiety condition. She's driven into the local clinic and therapist, but hasn't gotten much help. Having had experience with drugs before, she knows what works for her condition, but she hasn't been able to convince the therapist to work with her to find a psychiatrist - therapist apparently wants her to re-try all the medications that she's already taken over the past five years first, in the hopes one of them will work this time. She'd like to try an online pharmacy that offers consults and can provide you with a scrip, in the hopes this person will take her experiences into account. She'd also like to buy actual drugs, not fakes, in the event the evaluator does agree with her. Has anyone had experiences to offer? Are there reviews somewhere for these things I'm not finding?

Thank you so much in advance!

posted by mccn to health & fitness (5 answers total)

Your friend is out of luck – it looks like Arizona has regulations against online prescriptions.
posted by halogen at 12:37 PM on October 12, 2010

I'd refer to this. If an online pharmacy is providing you with a prescription instead of the other way around, it's violating federal law (the FDA doesn't recognize prescriptions where there is not a face-to-face relationship between prescriber and patient). If she doesn't like her local therapist, she should find another one, and if there isn't one, she should find one that's not as local.
posted by reptile at 12:51 PM on October 12, 2010

Yeah, I think not just in Arizona but in most places non-sketchy medical practitioners avoid prescribing psychoactive substances to people they have never met; it's illegal for one thing. An online pharmacy that made such prescriptions as a major component of its business would likely get shut down. So while some places like this may exist, they probably don't advertise a whole lot. Your friend may have the purest of motives but to a lot of practitioners what she's doing is going to look like drug-seeking behavior (because she is seeking drugs). I don't want to be harsh, I'm just saying this is how it looks from the outside.

Practical suggestions: I assume your friend hasn't been taking this medication on a recent prescription? Because if she has a recent scrip some doctors might give her a bridging prescription until she can get an appointment with a psychiatrist. Is there a reason (insurance, whatever) that your friend needs to go through this therapist to find a psychiatrist? Or could she just call up the nearest psychiatrist (which, I know, may be difficult given her location) and ask to make an appointment? Or can she make an appointment with any other medical professional (NP, PA, MD, DO, whatever)?
posted by mskyle at 12:59 PM on October 12, 2010

Rather than not-answering the question as earlier responses seem keen to do ...

Your friend can probably purchase what she needs from InhousePharmacy.biz. They don't do "consultations" but no prescriptions are needed. My friend has been a satisfied customer purchasing from them for four or five years, and found the products to be standard and good quality.

Note that there have been legal shenanigans (viz. scummy lawyers looking to make a buck) in the USA to close online pharmacies, and this reliable business has recently changed from being a .com to .biz as a result.
posted by anadem at 4:23 PM on October 12, 2010 [3 favorites]

As an aside, tell your friend to research Passion Flower. I just read that it works like Valium. (guessing that's the drug she is looking for) Screw the drug companies.
posted by cda at 8:51 AM on October 13, 2010