Ryan Haight Act

DEA News: Congress Passes Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act
Bill now awaits Presidential signature.

(Vocus/PRWEB ) September 30, 2008 -- DEA Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart today hailed Congressional passage of the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2007, which addresses the problems of online prescription drug trafficking, abuse, and availability.

"Cyber-criminals illegally peddling controlled substances over the Internet have invaded households and threatened America's youth for far too long by supplying pharmaceuticals with a few clicks of a mouse and a credit card number," Acting Administrator Leonhart said. "This landmark piece of legislation will bring rogue pharmacy operators out of the shadows by establishing a clear standard for legitimate online pharmaceutical sales. The legislation will allow customers to know they are doing business with a trusted, legitimate pharmacy, and give law enforcement the tools we need to identify illegitimate online pharmacies."

Cyber-criminals illegally peddling controlled substances over the Internet have invaded households and threatened America's youth for far too long by supplying pharmaceuticals with a few clicks of a mouse and a credit card number
This landmark piece of legislation will bring rogue pharmacy operators out of the shadows by establishing a clear standard for legitimate online pharmaceutical sales. The legislation will allow customers to know they are doing business with a trusted, legitimate pharmacy, and give law enforcement the tools we need to identify illegitimate online pharmacies.
This legislation amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in the following key respects:

1. Face-to-face requirement for prescribing: The Act prohibits dispensing controlled substances via the Internet without a "valid prescription." For a prescription to be valid, it must be issued for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice, meaning that, with limited exceptions, a doctor must conduct at least one in-person medical evaluation of the patient.

This provision would address the primary harm caused by rogue Internet pharmacies: dispensing controlled substances on a large scale without a legitimate medical purpose. Rogue Internet pharmacies typically operate with active participation of an unscrupulous doctor who willingly issues prescriptions to "patients" throughout the country whom the doctor never sees and without a preexisting bona fide doctor-patient relationship.

2. Endorsement requirement: The Act requires an endorsement from DEA before a pharmacy could dispense controlled substances via the Internet. This endorsement would supplement the existing registration a pharmacy holds for its brick-and-mortar operation, and allow law enforcement to clearly identify internet sites where controlled substances can be sold.

Currently, domestic rogue Internet pharmacies are generally supplied by DEA-registered brick-and-mortar pharmacies. Typically, these brick-and-mortar pharmacies have little or no walk-in customers and do most or all of their business via rogue Internet sites. In some instances, criminal organizations find legitimate "mom and pop" brick-and-mortar pharmacies and purchase them, then use them for just a few months as a supplier to rogue Internet operations, then walk away from the pharmacy after taking in substantial cash.

Rather than try to block all online pharmaceutical sales, the Ryan Haight Act will put online pharmaceutical sales on an equal regulatory footing with those sales through a brick-and-mortar facility. The act requires an endorsement of an existing registration to allow existing pharmacies to sell controlled substances online. This means law enforcement will be able to carefully scrutinize all applications for such registration and be able to easily separate legitimate and illegitimate Internet operations.

3. Enhanced penalties for schedule III through V: The Ryan Haight Act will enhance penalties for unlawfully dispensing controlled substances in schedules III through V. These enhanced penalties would apply equally to all unlawful distributors and dispensers of controlled substances (not just those who do so by means of the Internet).

Criminals are aware of the low penalties associated with Schedule III and Schedule IV substances, and generally refrain from selling schedule II substances. Hence, to provide a credible deterrent where illicit distribution is most prominent, the Act increases the statutory maximum penalties applicable to the illegal distribution of Schedule III and IV controlled substances as follows:


Schedule III: Maximum sentence for first offenders from 5 years to 10 yearsMaximum sentence for second offenders from 10 years to 20 years

Schedule IV: Maximum sentence for first offenders from 3 years to 5 yearsMaximum sentence for second offenders from 6 years to 10 years

Schedule V: Maximum sentence for second offenders from 2 years to 6 years

These changes to maximum penalties apply to all illegal distributions, not just those occurring over the internet.

4. Prohibition on advertising illegal sales: The Ryan Haight Act will make it a crime to use the Internet to advertise the illegal sale of a controlled substance by means of the Internet.

5. Requirement that Internet pharmacies post certain information on their Web sites: The Ryan Haight Act will require online pharmacies to post truthful information about their location, identity, and licensure of the pharmacy, pharmacists and prescribers, and states in which they are authorized to practice pharmacy.

This provision would assist law enforcement in investigating online pharmacies and should also provide some deterrent against noncompliance (by reminding online pharmacies of their legal duties).

6. State Cause of Action: The Ryan Haight Act will give the Attorney General of each state the ability to bring a civil action in a federal district court to enjoin the actions of an online pharmacy or person which/who is operating in violation of this statute. To bring such an action, the state must have served prior written notice on the Attorney General of the United States, giving the Attorney General the opportunity to intervene in the litigation.

This provision would help ensure that state and federal enforcement authorities can work in partnership with each other and that individual states are able to take effective enforcement action. Under current law, a state Attorney General's enforcement authority against an online pharmacy is limited to the geographic boundaries of that state, which causes significant challenges when a case involves illegal activity over the Internet

great! lets make a law for every stupid thing every stupid person does. so we don't have to take responsibility for our own actions. they sure solved the problem of people drinking to much and cocaine addiction. Criminalize every action. Slowly and steadily, they are creeping into every facet of our lives and always with the tragic story of ONE person as a precursor to justify some stupid bill that just makes life hard on everyone. Here's an idea, teach your kids right from wrong. but keep in mind he could have procured any number of drugs any number of ways -- besides that, there are many many more important issues that their time could have gone into, they act like they have to"combat" anything that kills people. Except when someone has a true illness that they can't afford tratment for and they invariably die ... where's the law protecting them? JMHO. Ben.

As soon as the president signs the Ryan Haight Act between now and the first of the year all ROP's will require a face to face consultation with their doctor.If you are lucky enough to find an ROP with a doctor located in your state you can go see him or her for your consultation.If not you will have to fly to your closest ROP doctor most likely in Florida for a one time yearly consultation .After which you will have to see your family doctor for follow up.A prescription will be issued at your consultation with 2 refills. Fill the initial script at the location of your consultation with a chain store that is close to your home so as to transfer the refills back home.Every three months after that you will have a consultation by telephone to get you next 3 months supply.Most Rop's are discontinuing telephone consultation's as we speak untill you have a face to face consultation.They will continue to honor all refills untill refills are exausted.But you must prepare yourself for the change that is coming.The federal government has always been a pain in the rear but now they are a pain all over. FYI . Ben .

so are you saying this is actually going to pass

Already passed just waiting on the president to sign it into law. FYI. Ben.

dam this all just sucks

i pray my knee doctor keeps giving me my scripts
i have an appt on 12/2 i have been going over and over in my head on how to approach him that i need a new script, when he wrote me the last script he did it for 4 refills and 120 pills a pop but he kept mentioning it was addictive and i acted all innocent. which lends me to believe he might not want to rescript it to me again, i will play up the pain and play on his sympathy hopefully it will work.

So ben what are you going to do in order to get your meds ???

Chaz , After doing my home work on this bill and contacting a few former ROP guys I know I found out that this law will not go into effect untill April 2009 . All the ROP'S have known about this law for quite some time and have been preparing to take action before the law shuts them down.They will just put a doctor in each state and you will be required to have a face to face with him every 2 years.In between you will continue to see your family doctor for yearly physicals and blood work while still having telephone consultations with your original ROP doctor. Just filling the loop hole in the law so as to circumvent the new law.So I guess I will make the 5 hour trip to Columbus Ohio and back every 2 years and continue with my meds.It sure is going to put a kink in all the double dippers out there though LOL. Yours will probably be in N.Y. city .How far is that for you to drive ? Ben .

the city is minutes from me depending whether its up or down town or mid town
the traffic is a nightmare and the parking for about 1 hours can cost up to 60 bucks to park in a lot
its highway robbery, but im sure they will have doctors in the burbs opposed to manahattan for them to pay rent in a place in the city would be crazy they are better off putting one is brooklyn or queens or the bronx a fraction of the rent prices. If this new doctors dosnt give me a new script i will look around for a new doctor, eventually i should be able to find one there are millions of doctors here in this state. its just doing the research and making sure they are covered under my insurance. this way i dont have to pay a penny. My xrays are scary everytime i get them the extra tech looks at them and says im surprised your still walking I deal with the pain constantly but if i dont move i will die so i push my self all day long after awhile you push thru the pain and it dosnt dawn on you , your in pain.

I wish you have a closer place to go to then to do all the driving but its only once a year the most
you know this will be a reason for the rop's to jack up the prices even more.
supply and demand

They can raise the prices because they say you are saving money on the meds by D.S. . If the ROP'S put a doctor close to you and he or she is a N.Y. licensed physician then your insurance will cover your meds.Some people on db.comVIP are getting their out of state scripts payed for. I can't even get one filled let alone paid for but maybe when I get it done by an Ohio licensed doctor they may pay for it.All our specialist doctors are in Columbus and I usually go there a couple times a year so once every 2 years won't be bad. The $200.00 consultation charge is whats high and probably will go higher.They have us by the gonad's and just keep squeezing because they know we have no other choice. Ben .