There are tools out there to help combat illegal online pharmacies and provide patients access to authentic medicines.<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t
It is often a wonder how so many of previous generations dealt with infertility. In the past there were limited treatment options, fewer medicines, and no Internet. {shudder the thought}In the “Age of the Internet”, it is hard to imagine having to navigated our journeys through the long, often dark, maze of infertility without the World Wide Web at our fingertips.If you are like countless others, you may have taken to the internet to seek out support and information. There are many chat rooms, online communities and sites out there. You can even find various broad infertility groups and very specific chat groups based on your diagnosis in RESOLVE’S online community called Inspire.<\/a>There are also very scary things – dangerous things – online. Thousands of websites offer to sell prescription infertility “solutions” without a prescription. Back in the infertility chat rooms, you may see hundreds of posts from women searching the Internet for discount fertility treatments (injectable hormones, pills, gels, you name it). Like many struggling with infertility, they are desperate for solutions that would result in a baby and would do just about anything to have a family including putting themselves at risk online.These so-called online “pharmacies” prey on vulnerable patients <\/strong>who are desperate enough to try anything for a cure. They offer deep discounts, free shipping, and sales without a prescription promising a remedy, or in my case, a chance for a family. Sound good too to be true? It is.97% of these so-called “pharmacy” sites operate illegally, out of compliance with laws put in place to protect patients.1<\/sup>50% of the medicines sold online are counterfeit.2 <\/sup>Counterfeit medicines have been found to contain arsenic, chalk, rat poison, boric acid and paint.3 <\/sup>Real medicines can rarely be distinguishable from the fakes – even by professionally trained eyes.But even if you are in the lucky 50% and don’t get a fake, medicines – especially fertility medicines -often require special handling and\/or cold-chain storage to remain effective.How do I find safe sources online?<\/h3>The good news is that there are tools out there to help combat the counterfeit crisis and provide patients access to authentic medicines, both offline and online:
\n\t\t\tMedications\n\t\t<\/h5>\n\t