FC: Feds should be cautious in regulating Net pharmacies --V.Postrel

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

*********

http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/03post.html

January 3, 2000
Sometimes the Patient Knows Best 

By VIRGINIA POSTREL

LOS ANGELES -- The Internet's abundance -- of information,
goods, tastes and sources of authority -- creates unparalleled
opportunities for individuals to get exactly what they want. But this
plenitude threatens political and cultural authorities who believe in telling
individuals what they can have rather than letting them choose for
themselves. It was inevitable, therefore, that the growth of the Internet
would lead to complaints that its diversity undermines media standards,
traditional morality and political authority. It was inevitable that the
Internet would face calls for censorship. 

And it was equally inevitable that the Internet would clash with American
pharmaceutical regulations. The United States government approaches
patient choice in medication as Singapore does free speech: its
pronouncements sound reasonable and tolerant until you threaten its
prerogatives. 

The Internet ethos of diversity and competition runs exactly counter to
uniform, gatekeeper-oriented medical culture -- the technocratic
philosophy of the "one best way" embodied in our pharmaceutical
regulations. On the Net, medical information is abundant and pharmacies,
domestic and foreign, operate on many different models. 

Now President Clinton is calling for new laws to require pharmacy Web
sites to get licenses from the Food and Drug Administration before they
can go online. He also wants large new federal fines, up to $500,000 per
sale, for selling prescription drugs "without a valid prescription."
Determining what's "valid" would put the federal government in the
business of regulating medical practice. To enforce these new rules, the
administration would give the F.D.A. subpoena powers and $10 million
in fiscal 2001. 

The Clinton initiative would greatly expand federal control over
cyberspace while nationalizing state-level pharmacy regulations and
common law standards of medical care. High-profile,
venture-capital-backed Internet pharmacies like Drugstore.com and
PlanetRx.com support the initiative's general philosophy and goals but
have expressed concern about whether new federal powers are
necessary. They favor stricter enforcement of existing laws. These sites
operate within traditional procedures, requiring a prescription from the
patient's personal physician. 

[...]



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