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The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) is an international association which assists state licensing boards in developing, implementing, and enforcing uniform standards relating to pharmacies. Originating in the United States in 1904, its membership currently includes two Australian states, nine Canadian provinces, fifty federal states within the United States, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories. Part of the NABP's function includes standardized tests to aid in licensing, such as the Multistate Pharmacy Jurisprudence Examination and NAPLEX, also known as the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination. In 1999 the NABP developed the Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites or VIPPS program to accredit online pharmacies. In a 2004 press release the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended VIPPS to consumers as "one method to help minimize the risks of getting bad quality drugs from disreputable sources." Toward the end of 2010 a partnership developed between the Internet pharmacy verification and monitoring service LegitScript LLC, and eNom, Inc. which is a domain name registrar and Web hosting company. It is important to note that LegitScript standards are recognized by NABP for the purpose of identifying and classifying Internet pharmacy Web sites as operating legitimately or engaging in unlawful behavior. The partnership agreement enforced eNom's ban on the illegal use of the Web sites it hosts. In particular, this partnership had the potential effect of causing thousands of rogue Internet drug distributors to have to board up their virtual storefronts. Legit Script agreed to assist eNom in identifying customers (i.e., web site operators whose domain names, or URLs, are registered with eNom) who are violating eNom’s terms of service by operating online pharmacies in violation of United States federal and/or state law, particularly focusing on those selling prescription drugs without requiring a valid prescription. Under terms of the partnership agreement, and in collaboration with various law enforcement entities, LegitScript notifies eNom of those domain names that willfully make possible the illegal sale of prescription medications. Having this information allows eNom to effectively enforce their policy against website holders who are engaging in illegal activities. Due to the ever increasing magnitude of business conducted online by Internet pharmacies, rogue entities are emerging on a daily basis attempting to get wealthy at the expense of unsuspecting patients. All of the above mentioned entities, NABP, VIPPS, LegitScript and eNom labor together to accomplish one very significant goal, that is, to make the Internet safe - particularly in the area of dispensing and distributing pharmaceuticals. Author's Biography: John Horton is President and Founder of LegitScript, and a former aide in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). John Horton founded LegitScript with the intent of helping people be sure that they are buying safe and genuine legit script medication on online pharmacies. LegitScript, is an internet enforcement service group, that has been successfully investigating sites to determine whether or not such sites are in compliance with the law and accepted standards of medical and pharmacy practice ethics.
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