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Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by toomuchtodo on Friday December 19, 2014 @01:23PM (#8773570)
> Obviously this is not at all clear-cut - I do have a problem with people selling unregulated prescription drugs online

Why?

Disclaimer: I'm biased. My doctor would not prescribe me an extremely safe anti-parasitic that is in no way DEA controlled, and I had to do the research myself and had buy it from an "online pharmacy" to have my issue resolved (which was cheaper, might I add, than what my local pharmacy was charging).

Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by pionar on Friday December 19, 2014 @02:18PM (#8773940)
>My doctor would not prescribe me an extremely safe anti-parasitic that is in no way DEA controlled, and I had to do the research myself and had buy it from an "online pharmacy" to have my issue resolved

Sounds like you have a terrible doctor, and should find a new one.

Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by toomuchtodo on Friday December 19, 2014 @02:19PM (#8773946)
Easier said then done. I don't need a doctor. I need authority over my own health. Put whatever waiver you want in front of me.
Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by holdenk on Friday December 19, 2014 @03:14PM (#8774239)
For better or worse, the system isn't really set up for that. Under the current system you might want to look for a doctor that believes in "informed consent" and "harm reduction".
Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by MichaelGG on Friday December 19, 2014 @02:23PM (#8773962)
Separate issue. The oppressiveness of requiring a doctor to sign off on your personal decisions is not the same as making sure pharma companies are actually producing the right drugs.
Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by toomuchtodo on Friday December 19, 2014 @03:36PM (#8774357)
So you agree with me that prescription drugs should be permitted to be sold online as long as there are quality controls in place?

EDIT: Because the problem isn't QC (although that's what its disguised as). The problem is that every other first world country has price controls, so pharma rapes the one economy that allows them to, the USA. Region locking DVDs? Hilarious. Region locking life critical drugs? I don't have words for that level of evil and greed.

Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by MichaelGG on Friday December 19, 2014 @07:51PM (#8775421)
Yes, people should be able to make their own medication decisions. There may need to be a set of waivers or mandatory education classes, perhaps an interview to make sure the person isn't buying it in a misguided fashion (to help prevent quacks from getting people to harm themselves), but ultimately anyone should be able to buy and use what they want. It's embarrassing that drug control laws exist, even moreso for non-scheduled but rx-only stuff (like Allegra used to be).

But QC is a major problem[1]. Even the FDA is not doing a great job, as that article exposes. I used to be very pro-generics, now I double check what I'm buying and where it's manufactured. Now that might not be the driving force, as you point out, but QC is still a problem and ideally there should be some sort of end-to-end guarantees so users can determine that a specific box of product is safe. And punishments need to be extreme to avoid companies like Ranbaxy (now Sun Pharma) from simply skipping the whole QC-and-actually-making-medicine step.

http://fortune.com/2013/05/15/dirty-medicine/

Re:Google takes legal action against Mississippi State Attor... by atwebb on Friday December 19, 2014 @02:24PM (#8773969)
Your case supports that this isn't clear cut.