Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), sent letters to website operators warning them to stop illegally endorsing and selling opioids. These companies were Divyata, Euphoria Healthcare Pvt Ltd., JCM Dropship, and Meds4U who operated 10 websites. These websites are contributing to the opioid crisis and they must be stopped to avoid overdoses from increasing.
The Seriousness of the Opioid Crisis
The National Institute on Drug Abuse says that more than 130 people die in the U.S. from abusing opioids every day. The majority of deaths in Ohio’s Franklin County were from fentanyl which is 50 times more dangerous than heroin and 100 times more dangerous than morphine. Drug companies, wholesalers, pharmacies, and other patients are to blame for illegally distributing these substances to people who need help with their addiction. By shutting down these websites, you would be reducing the oversupply of prescription opioids in the medical field.
The Importance of Shutting Down Drug Selling Websites
People who buy prescription medicines online could be putting their health in danger. These products could be expired, counterfeit, or contaminated. When you have companies that are not regulated by the FDA, you have no idea what you are putting in your mouth. There is no proof that what you have bought is what is advertised and you do not know what else has been added to the pill. You could also end up being a victim of credit card fraud, identity theft, and computer viruses when purchasing on these sites. The best way to avoid purchasing opioids that are not safe is to use a pharmacy that has been approved by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.
Online Opioid Summit
The FDA hosted a second Online Opioid Summit earlier this year attended by internet stakeholders, government entities, academic researchers, and advocacy groups. Discussed were ways to take stronger action in combatting the opioid crisis by reducing online availability. The DEA also participated to explore proactive approaches with internet stakeholders to crack down online illegal opioid sales. This means researching which opioids are safe to distribute online and approaches to addressing opioids advertised online as well as a discussion about solutions. Online access is a scary concept with how easy it is to acquire opioids. With both of these organizations banding together, much more can be done to prevent further tragedies down the road.
Located in Georgetown, Texas, Alma Loma is a transformative living center to help those struggling in early recovery to transition out of our Psychiatric and Substance Abuse residential center. Alma Loma believes that addiction is born from an untreated mental illness in which our facility is here to help you. Our facility offers residency, medication management education, individualized treatment, life skills education, 12-step support, and more tools to bring patients the confidence to be able to live an independent life. For more information, please call us at 866-457-3843.
