In 1998, Viagra became the first medications for ED treatment approved by the FDA. It has been studied more than 15 years.
More than 23,000 men with ED were involved in more than 130 studies and clinical trials when Viagra has been studied. Finally, it has been proven for treatment of ED of any degree.
On May 6 Pfizer Inc. launched Viagra® home delivery, service which is going to deliver the one of the most popular and the most counterfeited drug to Pfizer’s customers.
Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) now have an opportunity to order Viagra on Viagra.com site that is powered by CVS pharmacy. This site allows to avoid low-quality counterfeit medications, however, a valid prescription from a doctor is the must.
During the last years, fake online pharmacies and counterfeit drugs became a real threat to public health, since the number of online services increased and demand on online services is growing.
According to National Association of Boards of Pharmacies (NABP), only three percent of pharmacies selling prescription drugs online are legitimate pharmacies. Other pharmacies are not certified to sell drugs for U.S. customers, may sell counterfeit drugs or drugs delivered from other countries, where they were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Because of those pharmacies, the FDA launched BeSafeRx program on September 12 last year. Additionally, there is another way to find only approved local pharmacies in the area.
Carmen Catizone, NABP executive director, said that through their ongoing analyses they had seen how illicit pharmacies can attract customers to buy counterfeit drugs with easy purchase experience, but it may put health of those customers at risk. She added that they were pleased to see other companies’ collaboration to develop solutions, which would help patients to purchase only legitimate medications online.
Viagra.com site
Victor Clavelli, senior director, Primary Care Business Unit, a marketing group leader, said that there were more than 20 million searches annually for Viagra online. He pointed out that offering men convenient access to ED medication and legitimate way to purchase Viagra online they hoped that the company will help to resolve the issue of fake ED medications.
All the back-end functions of the website, like prescriptions authentication, will be handling by CVS pharmacy.
CVS has its own online pharmacy, which has received accreditation from NABP. CVS.com has been verified under VIPPS (Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites) program. This means that the site has met security, privacy, and quality assurance requirements.
The new website includes up-to-date eCommerce functionality that allows customers to submit new prescription or refill the existing one, estimate the amount of payment depending on their health insurance plan if they have one, and track their order.
Standard shipping is free in the continental part of the U.S. Other expedited options are also included for people living outside of U.S. or on islands.
More about counterfeit Viagra
After review of online pharmacies market, NABP listed about 97 percent of sites, which sell pharmaceutical products as “Not Recommended”.
Scott Williams, MPA, senior vice president, Men’s Health Network said that when you look the way those not recommended websites market themselves and drugs they were selling, it was almost like counterfeiters were targeting men and their health conditions to affect them. He also said that his organization was concerned by a number of counterfeit drugs available online and applauded any effort to combat counterfeit drugs.
Customers are at the risk of receiving counterfeit drugs, which could be dangerous for health or even life since it is hard to understand where is a legitimate pharmacy and where is a fake alternative.
Pfizer Global Security found more than 20 websites of the top places in search results for “buy Viagra” in 2011. After the evaluation, samples of counterfeit drugs were ordered from those pharmacies and Pfizer’s researchers analyzed a chemical composition of those drugs.
About 80% of those drugs were fake and contained only 30-50% of active substance (sildenafil citrate) of advertised amount.
Harris Interactive, sponsored by Pfizer and NABP, conducted a national survey of a thousand men with ED in 2011. According to study, more than 80% of men believed it’s difficult to determine if online pharmacy they were using is legitimate. About 36% of surveillances would consider obtaining the medications based on the Internet search.
Matthew Bassiur, vice president, Pfizer Global Security, said that they had seen counterfeit drugs manufactured illegally in filthy conditions. He pointed out that some people did not realize the risks that this possessed to their safety. Bassiur added that counterfeit drugs often contained the wrong amount of active substance and may have dangerous contaminations.
According to Bassiur, counterfeit Viagra samples tested in Pfizer’s labs contained pesticides, commercial paints, printer ink, and wallboard.
You can follow the link for full prescribing information and patient insert for Viagra. Please do not take Viagra without a prior visit to your doctor.
Also, read the safety information here.
