25% of Americans struggle to afford the prescriptions that they need to live a quality life. Many of those people are uninsured or underinsured by their healthcare providers.

If you’re in a position where you need pharmaceuticals but don’t have the money to pay for them, what are your options? Among others, buying drugs from a quality online pharmacy has proven to be a solid strategy that could save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars per year.

Therein lies the purpose of this post.

We aim to give you pointers on how to choose a reputable online pharmacy so you can make sure that the medication you get is safe and you don’t get scammed.

1. Buy From a Well-Known Brand

Several name-brand pharmacies offer robust online ordering platforms. Some examples of these establishments include CVS and Walgreens.

When you buy pharmaceuticals online from well-known, domestic brands, you can be sure that the product you get will be safe. You can also ensure that these products are safe and underwent the required clinical trials by the best pharmaceutical and best due diligence consultants in the industry. Your personal data will also be protected during your transaction.

Many well-known pharmacies that offer online ordering platforms extend discounts to online customers in the way of coupons or bulk-purchasing rates.

2. Talk to Your Doctor

Your doctor is always a great resource when you’re looking for a quality online pharmacy. It may be that they’ve worked with a particular pharmacy in the past that they can vouch for. They may also have other patients that have endorsed certain online pharmacies that they can recommend.

If your doctor works for a healthcare provider that offers in-house pharmacy services (Kaiser, for example), they’ll likely direct you to their employer’s online platform which may be worth looking at if you haven’t already.

3. Be Realistic About Prices

Many online pharmacies, particularly those based outside of the United States, offer exceptional drug prices. That being said, if a place if offering prices that represent an 80% to 90% discount on all drugs, be wary. This is especially true if you’re not able to find any other online pharmacy offering comparable discounts.

If prices seem too good to be true, they probably are.

4. Ensure That a Prescription Is Required

When you view products, put them in your cart and try to order them, a reputable online pharmacy is going to ask you for a prescription. Doing so is a legal obligation that circumventing would lead to jail time for your pharmacy’s management.

Pharmacies that don’t ask for prescriptions when ordering drugs are either scams that have no intention of sending you medication, domestic drug dealers or foreign pharmacies that are illegally exporting drugs into the United States.

5. Check for Licensure

All pharmacies that are operating on US soil need to have accreditation through their state to operate legally. This accreditation should be viewable on the website that you’re ordering from.

Since claiming to be accredited online is easy, you can use third party checking tools to see if the pharmacy you’re considering is listed in their licensing body’s database.

6. Know Where the Pharmacy Is Based

Foreign pharmacies that export drugs into the USA are technically not allowed to do so. That being said, many United States citizens import drugs from accredited Canadian pharmacies to take advantage of discounted drug rates.

While it seems like the United States government isn’t interested in cracking down on individuals that are buying their drugs from Canada, to purchase from a quality online pharmacy that you can’t get in trouble for doing business with, consider relegating your shopping to domestic establishments.

7. Give Your Pharmacy a Call

Scam pharmacies are usually more than willing to communicate with prospective customers via email or chat. Very few of them, however, are willing to jump on a phone call.

If you’re unsure about the validity of a pharmacy, check their website to see if they have a phone number. If they don’t, that’s a bad sign.

If you can get someone to talk to you via chat, ask them for a number that you can dial so you can continue your conversation over the phone. Refusal to give you a phone number is almost certainly a sign that the pharmacy you’re doing business with is operating illegally domestically or is based in a non-English-speaking country abroad.

8. Read Online Reviews

Checking review websites like Yelp and Google when discerning the legitimacy of a pharmacy can be helpful. Any pharmacy that has overwhelmingly negative reviews or no reviews at all is best avoided unless you have another reliable means to validate the establishment’s validity.

Do not trust online reviews or testimonials boasted on your pharmacy’s website as these are likely cherry-picked or fake.

9. Use Your Commonsense

Your strongest ally when it comes to finding a quality online pharmacy is your commonsense. If you go on a website and find that things feel fishy or seem out of touch with reality, walk away.

Buying drugs from a questionable online pharmacy could at best result in your losing your money or at worse, result in your death due to the consumption of a bad product.

A Quality Online Pharmacy Can Save You Money and Keep You Healthy

Finding a quality online pharmacy could lead you to find the medication that you need at a reduced price. Because of that, so long as you exercise caution when doing so, we fully support your aim to locate an online purveyor of medication and wish you well in finding the perfect digital healthcare partner.

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