In August 2009, a study (conducted by research firms LegitScript.com and KnujOn.com) found that over 80% of on-line advertisements for Internet pharmacies accepted by the search engine Yahoo were in violation of US federal and state laws. The researchers were able to buy prescription drugs without a prescription from Yahoo Internet pharmacy advertisements, and in one case the drugs were imported from India, which is prohibited by US law, says the survey, which was.”
In September 2010, Google filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block groups it called "rogue online pharmacies" from advertising on its search engine and websites.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “The move comes as Internet companies continue efforts to prevent fraudsters from preying on their customers, potentially keeping them from doing business with legitimate online operators.”
"Rogue pharmacies are bad for our users, for legitimate online pharmacies and for the entire e-commerce industry—so we are going to keep investing time and money to stop these kinds of harmful practices," said Google lawyer Michael Zwibelman.
That’s all well and good—but it’s not new. In December 2003, Google said they would stop accepting advertising from unlicensed pharmacies that have used the Internet to sell millions of doses of narcotics and prescription drugs without medical supervision.
As the Washington Post reported at the time, “Illegal Internet pharmacies have become a virtually unregulated pipeline for highly addictive painkillers, tranquilizers and anti-depressants that have resulted in overdoses and deaths.”
Back in 2003, the FDA was aware of the problem and trying to work with the search engine community. As the Post reported, "We're literally placing calls to the search engines trying to get a meeting going," said Peter J. Pitts, the FDA's associate commissioner for external affairs. "You can't blame them for accepting commerce. But they really haven't understood the consequences."
Plus ça change …
