NABP Awards First VIPPS On-Line Pharmacy Certifications

9/15/1999

On hand to accept the awards were Andy Stergachis, PhD, RPh, Director of Pharmacy Services for drugstore.com; Steve Gold, Vice President for E-Commerce, Strategy, and Delivery for Merck-Medco RxServices; and Matthew Naythons, MD, Vice President, Editorial of planetRx.com. The awards were presented by NABP’s Executive Committee Chairman Kevin E. Kinkade, RPh, Executive Director/Secretary Carmen A. Catizone, MS, RPh, and Licensure Programs Director Glenn Detweiler, MBA, during a press conference introducing the program’s first certifications.

“This is truly a great day for the practice of pharmacy and the Internet consumer,“ Kinkade noted. “The VIPPS program represents a new, valuable resource to both consumers and industry. By assisting the consumer in identifying those on-line pharmacies that are appropriately licensed and qualified to practice pharmacy, the VIPPS program will serve to advance the reliability of this new medium.“

The VIPPS certification program was developed to provide consumers with reliable information about the on-line pharmacies doing business on the Internet. A recent count of on-line pharmacies by NABP staff found at least 400 such sites, many of which do not conform to the legitimate practices advanced by the VIPPS program. “As more consumers turn to the Internet marketplace as a convenient shopping alternative, the risk for exposure to deception and dangerous scams increases,“ said Kinkade. “There is particular concern among the elderly population, which is often the target of unscrupulous marketing ploys. VIPPS will be of tremendous benefit to consumers who need to be certain that the prescription medications they receive are from legitimate on-line pharmacies.“

The VIPPS program is a voluntary program designed to certify each participating on-line pharmacy’s ability to dispense pharmaceuticals to the public by documenting licensure compliance from all jurisdictions in which the on-line pharmacy is doing business. As VIPPS-certified on-line pharmacies, drugstore.com, Merck-Medco Rx Services, and PlanetRx.com are the first on-line pharmacies to meet NABP’s licensure and compliance requirements, a rigorous 17-point pharmacy practice criteria, and to successfully undergo a site visit conducted by a trained VIPPS inspection team.

Once certified, the on-line pharmacy will display the VIPPS seal on their Web site home page. By clicking on the seal, consumers will be able to access the VIPPS database to view the basic information they need to make informed decisions regarding their choice of on-line pharmacies. Consumers may also access the VIPPS database directly via NABP’s Website at http://www.nabp.net/vipps/intro.asp.

NABP is the independent and impartial Association that assists its member boards in developing, implementing, and enforcing uniform standards for the purpose of protecting the public health.