Does this site comply with US law?

In October, the US enacted the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, named after a young man who died after abusing drugs bought over the internet. Except the law only applies to online pharmacies based inside the US so this site doesn't have to comply. It can do whatever it wants. That doesn't sound very good does it? So let's look at one of the key requirements. Whenever you buy a drug, you want to know that it's safe to take it. This involves two quite separate issues. Every drug offered for sale in the US, whether branded or generic, has to get FDA approval. Naturally, the FDA looks at all the research and the results of the clinical trials before deciding whether you should be allowed to use it. Be reassured. All the drugs supplied by the online pharmacies through this site are FDA approved. There are risks and benefits when using any drug. Take accutane as an example. This is a very powerful drug used to treat acne. It's highly effective but the FDA and the manufacturer were worried. Although this drug is "safe" within the usual limits when used by men, it can damage babies in the womb. So it should never be taken by women who are pregnant. To protect women, it was agreed that accutane should only be supplied through the iPledge system. This warning is prominently displayed on the labeling and, in addition, we are highlighting the issue in our posts to this blog. Everyone has your interests at heart. Except that the manufacturer of accutane did not want any other possibly serious side effects to be mentioned on labels. A drug like accutane is in big demand. It offers a real treatment for a condition that causes distress and heartache to millions of teenagers and adults around the world. So anything that would slow down sales is resisted by the manufacturer. The more people talk about side effects, the more consumers might worry and stop buying. It's always a balancing act. Does a responsible website always give you full details about all the side effects? Well, it should. In fact, you should use this as a test of the honesty of the site. We do not have to comply with US law but we do on this point. For example, there's a link between accutane and severe inflammatory bowel disease. It affects less than 1% of people who take this drug and people who use the drug as directed by the pharmacist are not significantly at risk. But the manufacturer, which has known of the problem from 1994, tries to keep it a secret. Now ask yourselves who is the more responsible. This site for telling you of a remote risk, or the manufacturer for trying to hide it? Summary The article looks at the new law which requires websites to disclose the side effects of the drugs it sells and, on the issue of patient safety, confirms that all sites should be honest about possible side effects to the drugs offered for sale.

Family health insurance policies

When you're young and in good health, you often live for the now. Some have the qualifications to find employment including health insurance in the compensation package, but most take what is available and let things drift until responsibilities come along. Then you start asking questions about what you want in the future. It starts with a partnership or marriage. It gets more urgent when children appear on the scene. If you found a job with a health insurance package, you can usually add your new partner or spouse to the plan. The first issue is whether that plan gives all the cover you need. Should there be gaps, you buy top-up cover. Then as the family grows, does the plan include children and any other dependents? Overnight, you become experts in the detail of the employer's plan and carefully research what the private health insurance companies offer to give the additional cover. If your job has no health plan, but one of you had the wisdom to begin a private health policy, it is usually possible to upgrade to a family policy. Because you have track record with a company, this is less of a hassle than finding a completely new company for the family. If you're starting with no health cover, you will find there are major differences in the premiums quoted. Through sites like this, you get instant quotes from multiple health insurance companies. By using two or three sites like this, you can rapidly accumulate a daunting array of information about different policies and quoted prices. This makes choosing the right cover a real challenge. The first step is take a cold-blooded look at the family finances. This is not a time for sentimentality or blind hope. You need hard figures on what you can afford to pay not just now, but in the foreseeable future. Remember your credit score drops if you start a policy and then find you cannot afford the premiums. The next step is to decide exactly who is to be included in the policy and what range of cover you want - just basic treatment options working up to long-term care insurance. Remember the larger the group and the wider the age range of the people to be included, the more the premium is likely to be. The more conditions, illnesses and injury possibilities you add, the more expensive the policy is likely to be. This drives you back to your financial calculations. The way to lower the premiums is to accept a higher deductible or copayments. But this needs a careful calculation. How much will you pay each year as self-insurance through the deductibles or expenses, against the saving in the annual premium. Weigh the benefits against foreseeable costs to make the right decision on which family health insurance policy to buy.