Future of Online Pharmacies
There are many proposed rules being promoted - currently, the rights of advertisers and affiliates are being protected by the First Amendment.
Here's a link you should read.
http://www.revenuetoday.com/featurearticle_rev2.htm
The entire article is very useful. The most important part of it seems to be this quote:
“States are looking at taking action against the search engines and sites that allow (illegal) operations, but there are no guidelines for affiliates that advertise them,” said Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. “And I don’t see any legislation coming down the pike to regulate that advertising.”
Here's another link to a legal opinion, you've probably read it already.
http://www.webmastervault.com/tip-online-pharmacy-legal-issues.shtml
and here's the bill that was introduced in Jan this year in senate. It was discussed but has not yet passed. If this is passed it may put the legal OP business out of business. It's a long bill, search for the keywords 'Internet Pharmacy' 'Advertise' , 'Advertising' and 'Links' on this page.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-184
The key paragraphs to date are these:
The First Amendment provides significant protection towards advertising as a form of commercial speech. The government’s ability to regulate advertising of online pharmacies is not coextensive with its ability to regulate the distribution of Internet-ordered prescription drugs, themselves. The prevailing test that has continuously been used by the courts to evaluate the legality of any particular advertising equation is known as the Central Hudson Test.
Under that Test, the court’s first duty is to determine whether the First Amendment applies at all. In doing so, the proper question is whether the advertisement concerns a lawful activity and is not misleading or fraudulent. That produces an interesting conundrum for the future reviewing courts, since the legality of online pharmacies in the United States is currently the subject of proposed legislation and heated controversy.
Moreover, if the online pharmacy is legal in the jurisdiction where it is licensed, that may suffice for purposes of this prong of the Central Hudson Test, although that remains undetermined.
Here's a link you should read.
http://www.revenuetoday.com/featurearticle_rev2.htm
The entire article is very useful. The most important part of it seems to be this quote:
“States are looking at taking action against the search engines and sites that allow (illegal) operations, but there are no guidelines for affiliates that advertise them,” said Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. “And I don’t see any legislation coming down the pike to regulate that advertising.”
Here's another link to a legal opinion, you've probably read it already.
http://www.webmastervault.com/tip-online-pharmacy-legal-issues.shtml
and here's the bill that was introduced in Jan this year in senate. It was discussed but has not yet passed. If this is passed it may put the legal OP business out of business. It's a long bill, search for the keywords 'Internet Pharmacy' 'Advertise' , 'Advertising' and 'Links' on this page.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-184
The key paragraphs to date are these:
The First Amendment provides significant protection towards advertising as a form of commercial speech. The government’s ability to regulate advertising of online pharmacies is not coextensive with its ability to regulate the distribution of Internet-ordered prescription drugs, themselves. The prevailing test that has continuously been used by the courts to evaluate the legality of any particular advertising equation is known as the Central Hudson Test.
Under that Test, the court’s first duty is to determine whether the First Amendment applies at all. In doing so, the proper question is whether the advertisement concerns a lawful activity and is not misleading or fraudulent. That produces an interesting conundrum for the future reviewing courts, since the legality of online pharmacies in the United States is currently the subject of proposed legislation and heated controversy.
Moreover, if the online pharmacy is legal in the jurisdiction where it is licensed, that may suffice for purposes of this prong of the Central Hudson Test, although that remains undetermined.
posted by Clive Wallace at 4:08 AM
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