Each year more and more people are starting to do shopping online. The main reason that people shop online is because of how fast and easy it is, not to9 mention that in some cases it can actually save you money. So with everything else available to shop for online it only makes sense that prescription drugs were made available for people to purchase online.

And even though ordering your prescriptions online can save you some time and sometimes it can even save you money you still need to be careful about the websites that you are using to order your prescription drugs. Many online pharmacies will provide you with information about drug interactions and some will even email you an alert if a drug has been recalled or if a generic equivalent becomes available. But on the other hand there are many websites that will ship expired drugs or even medications that haven't been stored properly. Not to mention the fact that there are websites that don't check for drug interactions or they don't require a prescription to dispense the drugs. Some websites even skirt the edge of legality.

Here are some of the things that you should do when you are buying prescriptions online.

• Consult your doctor - when you talk with your doctor you are going to want to tell them all of the medications that you are taking, including any that you bought over the counter, so that they can know ahead of time if what they are going to prescribe you will interact negatively with the medications you are currently taking or if they should adjust what you are taking for a new medication. But also your doctor is going to be able to give you the best advice when it comes to what kind of a prescription you are going to need, so what this amounts to is you don't want to order prescriptions online unless your doctor has given you the go ahead to take that medication.
• Use a licensed pharmacy - many online pharmacies claim to be a reputable company but yet they advertise that you can get your medications filled without needing a prescription, you want to avoid these places because they are not going to be your best choice. One way that you can tell if the online pharmacy is licensed is to check with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, they can tell you if a certain online pharmacy is licensed and also if they are in good standing. Something else to look for is a seal of approval that some online pharmacies will carry. The seal of approval is from Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites or VIPPS. In order to have this seal posted on their website the online pharmacy must maintain state licenses and allow inspections by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

• Insist on access to a registered pharmacist - if the site is a reputable site they will offer toll free access to a registered pharmacist for any help that you might need to obtain in getting answers to any questions that you might have about your prescription medications, same as a pharmacy offering you to talk with an onsite pharmacist. Another thing to watch for is if the online pharmacy has traditional physical locations as well. This could be helpful if you need to talk to a pharmacist in person after or before you begin taking a certain medication or if you would prefer to talk to somebody face to face rather than over the phone.
• Read the privacy and security policies - this should be done before you place any kind of order with the company because you want to be sure that your credit card number, personal health information, and any other personal information that you have entered on the website is going to be fully protected.
• Compare prices - sure you can find some really good prices online, but you can also find some really good prices at the pharmacy down the street. There is no kind of guarantee that you are going to pay less for your prescriptions online than you will down the street no matter what the advertisements claim.
• Be careful of counterfeit drugs - medicines that are sold by some online websites are actually outright fakes, meaning they will be of no help to you because they aren't even an actual medication. There have actually been numerous cases where the medications sold by an online pharmacy actually turned out to be dietary supplements, they contained harmful doses of the wrong drug or they contained no medication at all. Some things to watch out for is if you are told no prescription is required, there is no way to contact the company by telephone or if the prices of the medication seem too good to be true. In fact your best defense against getting counterfeit drugs is to know what your medication should look like, paying attention to your medications size, shape, color, taste, texture, smell or hardness can usually help you in identifying fake medications. But you should also look for altered or unsealed packaging.
• Be cautious of sites based in foreign countries - there are websites out there that are legitimate websites that are based in foreign countries but you need to know that there are certain risks involved if you use these sites. Product labels or instructions might be printed in a language that you don't understand. The medication might not have to meet the same safety standards as the medications made in the United States. The medications sold in the United States may be a different product with the same name in another country. And finally some foreign sites sell drugs that are illegal in the United States.

Here are some things that you should not do when you are ordering prescriptions online.

• Use a site that bypasses prescriptions - only your doctor can tell you what kind of drugs would work for a certain problem or if any drugs would work for you at all. So if the website allows you to order what you want without a prescription it is best to stay away from it because there is no telling what they are actually selling or if the medications are outdated. Plus your doctor needs to write you a prescription for any medications that you might need so that they can monitor the side effects properly.
• Order medication that's not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - if you take a drug that is inappropriate or even unsafe it can have life threatening consequences. All drugs that are sold in the United States have to pass some really strict standards that are made by the FDA. So if the FDA hasn't approved the drug it is not one that is prescribed in the United States so steer clear of it because there is no telling what the side effects might be.

• Overlook the address and phone number - if the site doesn't provide an actual street address and phone number or if they only list foreign contact information you want to steer clear of that site because chances are good that they are not a licensed site. Many sites will list an email address but you want actual solid contact information to go along with that email address just in case there are problems down the road.
• Succumb to false claims - many websites that sell prescriptions online advertise that they have miracle cures for certain problems, if the cures were real your doctor would already know about them. Some websites also use impressive words in order to disguise a lack of good science, meaning they use big words to hide the fact that they are not a true pharmacy, they just want you to think that they know as much as everybody else.
• Keep complaints quiet - with how many false websites are out there claiming to sell prescriptions online if you run into problems with the website that you use you need to report them to the FDA as soon as possible. This can include the fact that your order never arrived, you didn't get what you ordered, there were unauthorized charges on your credit card or any other kind of problem. If you report it right away you can help create a safer marketplace for everybody.

Regardless of if you get your prescription filled online or at a regular pharmacy there are some things that you are going to want to check on with your prescription to ensure that it is exactly what you ordered. Here are some of the things to check once you have gotten your prescription filled and received your order:

• Is your name printed correctly on the medication label?
• Is the name of the medication correct?
• Does the dosage match the prescription?
• Is the packaging intact?
• Is the expiration date clearly listed?
• Do the instructions make sense?
• Is there printed information about warnings and precautions?