Through a simple and robust government regulation of prices, Canadians pay far less for their prescription medication than those south of the border. In many cases, the exact same drugs on sale in America can be bought in for as much as 70% less in Canada. The boom in Canadian online pharmacies then, should really come as no surprise. Every year increasing numbers of Americans are turning to ordering prescription and over-the-counter medication from Canadian online pharmacies such as Canada Pharmacy – and doing so with complete peace of mind.
What makes ordering Canadian drugs such a secure process is that Canada is a country with a highly developed and progressive healthcare system. Indeed, government regulation of medication is just as stringent as that in the U.S. In fact, the U.S. FDA officially recognized the Canadian regulatory body, the CFIA, as being equivalent to itself, meaning that the standards of quality expected in America are always matched in Canada.
And as long as medicines meet those standards and are correctly labelled, the enterprise is completely legal. In fact, whole state authorities, municipal authorities, and other healthcare-providing bodies in the States regularly order from Canadian pharmacies. Moreover, in 2020 then-President Trump authorized the practice.
The Rise of the Scammers
But as ordering from Canadian pharmacies becomes more popular and easier to do, scammers and criminal organizations have started to see opportunity in this booming business. A search for prescription medication online will typically returns hundreds, if not thousands, of results. Because of the reputation Canada has garnered for high-quality medication at reasonable prices, very many of these online pharmacies claim to be Canadian.
There are countless tell-tale signs that indicate a particular online pharmacy is not legitimate. For example, the registered domain name of the website in question is usually different from the country the website claims to be based in. Sometimes, the company will send out unsolicited e-mails or advertisements. All our warning signs that you could be dealing with an identity theft scam, or a company selling unregulated and dangerous products.
Positive Verification
Red flags are all very well, but how can someone positively verify that a Canadian online pharmacy is legitimate? How do you know that Canada Pharmacy itself is? Drugs are frequently purchased online from many countries, each one with their own regulatory systems which authorize online pharmacies to operate. Some countries employ significantly less stringent organization than others. Canada is not one of those countries and has, as mentioned, among the most thorough quality regulations of any country in the world. So, if the company you are dealing with claims to be Canadian, there is a failsafe way to check this.
All Canadian pharmacies, whether online or not, have to be licensed with the Pharmacy Regulatory Authority in the particular province or territory in which they operate. Regulation with this organization ensures that the pharmacy, much like Canada Pharmacy, meets every standard expected in Canada and, through the official equivalency with the American FDA, also the in the U.S.
There is one snag though – companies can simply claim to be registered when they are not. To check this, you can check the pharmacy’s address on their homepage and cross reference this with the website of the Pharmacy Regulatory Authority in that province or territory. The pharmacy should be listed there. Legitimacy can also be confirmed through the Pharmacy Verified Websites Program, which is run by the National Association of Board of Pharmacy (NABP), which is NAPRA’s equivalent in Canada. It is easy to do, and it’s the surest way to total peace of mind.