How to Inform Patients About Dangers of Mail-Order Prescriptions
- GRX Marketing
- Mar 18
- 4 min read
As a pharmacist, you know the potential dangers of mail-order—but how do you relay that important information to your patients and community? We have put together a guide to help you get the message across!
Step 1: Create Awareness of Dangers
The first step in getting the word out about the dangers of mail-order prescriptions is to first raise awareness. Some people may not know that ordering prescriptions via mail is even an option until they hear about it either online or word of mouth. It is important to raise awareness of the issues it poses before it’s too late.
Improper Packaging
Medications need to be packaged and stored properly to ensure full potency for maximum results. Oftentimes, mail-order prescriptions are left in mailboxes or on front porches for hours at a time where they are susceptible to weather. This poses a threat in all regions, but especially in areas with extremely high or low temperatures.
Delivery Delays
Mail can get delayed due to staffing issues, technical errors, weather conditions, and more. If prescription medication gets delayed, patients may go days without their medications which may result in further health complications or even death if certain medications are not taken at the proper time.
Lost or Stolen Packages
Lost or stolen medication packages pose a threat to the patient’s health and others. Porch pirates, people who steal packages from people’s porches, may take packages containing medications without knowing what’s inside. If this happens, there is potential for them to illegally resell those medications to the public or keep them for themselves. It is also common for packages to get lost in the mail. This again may cause patients to go days without their necessary medications.
Wrong Medication
Ordering anything online comes with the risk of the order getting mixed up during processing and shipping resulting in receiving the wrong items. Mail-order prescriptions are no different. Incorrect medications may be delivered due to errors during processing or shipping.
Incorrect Dosage
Receiving the incorrect dosage of medications poses a threat to patient health, whether they receive too much or not enough of their medication. By the time the patient receives the incorrect medication dosage, it could take days for the return to process and the correct dosage to get to them. This may cause them to go days or weeks without their proper medication.
Expired Drugs
Ordering medications online comes with the risk of not knowing when it expires. Patients may receive medications with short expiration dates or medications that have already expired. Taking expired medications can pose a threat to patient health as some medications may be unsafe for consumption or become less effective after their expiration date.
Unapproved/Counterfeit Drugs
Unsafe online pharmacies may knowingly sell unapproved or counterfeit medications. As a consumer, it may seem like the drugs and pharmacy are legit, however, they are selling counterfeit medications that may be made with dangerous ingredients like fentanyl and methamphetamine. These fake medications may lead to serious health risks and even death.
Step 2: Offer Your Services
Offer your services to patients so they know that they can receive their medications in a safe, effective way. They may even learn about some services that they didn’t know you offer!
Medication Packaging
Medication packaging can help patients stay on track with their medications by having all their prescriptions together in easy-to-read packages. It also helps patients declutter their space by reducing the amount of pill bottles.
Medication Synchronization
Having all of a patient’s medications ready to pick up one day each month helps ease their stress by reducing the number of trips they make to the pharmacy. Oftentimes, we see pharmacies pair their medication packaging service with their medication synchronization program to help keep staff organized and further reduce the stress on patients.
Medication Review
Medication reviews are beneficial to patients, helping them have a deeper understanding of the medications and supplements they are taking. Having this knowledge can help them know what they are taking and why and may even open the opportunity to reduce the number of prescriptions they are taking.
Delivery
The convenience of having medications delivered is often what drives people to mail-order prescriptions. However, with delivery services offered by your pharmacy, patients can have peace of mind knowing their prescriptions won’t sit in their mailbox or on their front porch if they aren’t home. They also know exactly where their medications are coming from and who is delivering them!
Step 3: Report Unsafe Online “Pharmacies”
Reporting illegitimate online pharmacies helps keep our population safe and business flowing to local pharmacies like yours.
DEA Public Safety Alert
In October 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a public safety alert regarding illegal online pharmacies. They stated they have seen an increase in illegal online pharmacies that sell and ship counterfeit pills to unsuspecting customers throughout the United States. Many of these websites were identified and believed to be operating in India and the Dominican Republic, working with drug traffickers to distribute fake pills. They make their websites look legitimate by offering 24-hour customer service, reviews, safety facts, and deep discounts. The DEA has identified a list of fake online pharmacies that you can view here. ¹
Identifying and Reporting Fake Online Pharmacies
These fake pharmacies can be hard to differentiate as they go to great lengths to make them look legitimate. Some things to help identify fake pharmacies include:
Offering unapproved prescription drugs of unknown origin, safety, and effectiveness
Offering prescription drugs without the need for a prescription
Offering prescription drugs without directions for safe use
Offering prescription drugs without FDA-required warnings
If you suspect a patient has been using a fake online pharmacy or have suspicions about one, you can report an unsafe online pharmacy to the FDA by clicking here. ² There you can also find another list of illegally operating online pharmacies with warning letters from the FDA.
It is always better to be safe than sorry. Informing your patients about the dangers of mail-order prescriptions may just help save a life. For more about the dangers of mail-order prescriptions and learn how you can compete with mail order pharmacies, check out our podcast discussing Amazon Pharmacy here.
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