# Questions about online drug vendors **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-online-drug-vendors/295507 "2005-03-21T02:24:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-online-drug-vendors/295507/1 "2005-03-21T02:24:06Z")
My girlfriend is looking for some information and asked me to post the following: [hopefully this isn’t against board rules] > [@](#): > > A very dear visiting friend was taken by my mother to the hospital > earlier today after a car accident in our neighborhood, resulting from > an Ambien overdose. Over the phone this afternoon at the hospital > Mother told me that Patty, our friend, had taken at least 13 pills. > Through her stupor, Patty apparently admitted that she’d been taking > the drugs for a while now - a whole lot of unusual behavior over her > visits in the past 6 months makes a lot more sense. > > While discussing what had happened with **Catalyst** , I began to > wonder where Patty would have gotten what seems to be a steady source > of a prescription drug like that - I’d always thought it was given > short-term. I’ve had problems sleeping off and on for most of my life, > and two of the doctors I’ve had have warned me about the possible > addiction issues that come with taking a sleep aid like Ambien. > They’ve always come up with lots of possible solutions to try before a > prescription sleep drug, and I’ve never had to take any. Because of > that I was pretty surprised that a good doctor would prescribe a sleep > aid for six months, until I googled Ambien. The first two sponsored > links feature pharmacy sites that will sell you Ambien online. (I have > no idea how Patty got her drugs, and I’m not trying to pin anyone’s > mistakes on these websites. I’m just curious about them, that’s all.) > I’ve heard that there are sites that will not only sell, but also > prescribe the morning after pill or birth control. I didn’t sign up > for the Ambien sites, but I’d like to know if they will issue a > prescription as well as sell the drug. How legitimate are sites that > sell prescription drugs this way? Are there any restrictions placed on > them? Is there any information on the possible danger that people who > could be addicts are shopping for drugs online, or is there anything > to stop someone from getting several prescriptions at one time from > separate sites? Is anyone doing anything about pharmacy sites as a > result of problems they might have caused? > > Thanks for any information you can offer. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-online-drug-vendors/295507/2 "2005-03-21T04:26:52Z")
The way that most of these online pharmacies work is that they have a licensed MD either on their staff or as a contractor who “consults” with the patient and prescribes the medication. The “consultation” consists of the patient filling out an online medical questionnaire. After they have charged your credit card, the questionnare is reviewed by the doctor. Theoretically, if any red flags pop up he will not prescribe, but in most cases it is just a rubber-stamp approval. The pharmacy then sends your pills by FedEx and everyone is happy. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-online-drug-vendors/295507/3 "2005-03-21T14:13:17Z")
I just got an Ambien prescription on Friday from my GP, and it calls for 30 pills with six refills-- this is way more than I will ever take. I doubt I’ll go through that first bottle in two years.