Federal government launches pilot program to crack down on illegal online opioid sales
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HHS and the Commerce Department recently announced a new pilot program the agencies said could decrease the number of illegal opioids sold online.
The program calls for the FDA to notify the internet registries Neustar, Verisign and the Public Interest Registry when operators of websites that sell unapproved opioids do not respond to FDA warnings “adequately within the required timeframe.” The registries will review the FDA’s notifications to determine if additional action against the website operators — such as suspending or blocking internet domain names — is warranted.
HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar II stated in a press release that the program “will help stop the online sale of illicit opioids and combat our country’s deadly addiction crisis.”
Earlier this year, the CDC announced that 2018 was the first time in more than 20 years that fewer Americans died of drug overdoses than the year before — “a real victory,” according to Azar, but he also noted that the federal government’s role in reducing drug opioid deaths is “far from finished.”
In the next few months, the agencies will analyze the program’s effectiveness as a potential solution to addressing the illegal sale of unapproved opioids online, the press release stated.
Perspective
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The FDA does not control conventional pharmacies, which are regulated at the state level. If the FDA really wanted to gain control over illegal drug sales at the federal level, this pilot program is one way of doing it.
The program appears to be a good idea because illegal online opioid sales are a a known problem and lack quality control and adequate oversight. However, the number of opioid deaths attributable to rogue internet pharmacy websites is likely very small compared to those from legal pharmacies. So, while I’m not sure that the effort is going to lead to a tremendous bang, I do not see the harm in doing it.
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